The 76th Hunger Games: The Haunted (Final 6 Chapters)
by Dante Alighieri1308
Summary: In the wake of the 74th and 75th Hunger Games, President Snow's power is fading. Faced with the possibility of insubordination in the Capital and full out rebellion in the Districts, Snow oversees development of the 76th Games to remind Panem of the Capital's power and the Game's true purpose. A/U. FINAL CHAPTERS SINCE THE PREVIOUS 51 CHAPTERS WERE DELETED
1. The 76th Victor

**_Hey guys... so um... Fanfic Admin's deleted the 76th Hunger Games for the reason of:_**

**Main reason for removal: "Non-story: lists, notes, polls, announcement, and**

**etc" The above story has been removed because it violated the guideline detailed on**

**the upload page.**

**_God damn it._**

**_I literally got this message while in my +100 lecture and screamed out loud. The professor even stopped and asked if I was ok. Basically though the story got deleted because my second chapter was the list of all the tributes, giving you guys some basic info on all of them._**

**_I'm sorry guys, but it's all gone. I've got the majority of it backed up but not all of it (the 40s chapters no). This isn't going to stop me from updating the remainder of this story however._**

**_Because fuck them._**

**_Seriously, I've been working on this story for over a year now. 52 chapters, almost 350,000 words total. There are stories on this site that they could have removed before mine. There are stories that don't even get past the first chapter! And they wreck this one! And I also just found out that apparently someone else has taken my story and started uploading it on a different website, taking credit for the entire thing! ARRGH! I would be cursing more but this is only a T story and FanFic Admins may be watching. How Big Brother of them..._**

**_Anyways, you guys have been reading this story, bonding with these characters, and waiting for the conclusion for a while now. And you're going to fucking get it._**

**_WILLOW VS. ANASTASIA & RAVEN!_**

**_Enjoy the next chapter. And I'm sorry to everyone else who will be unable to see the rest of this story. If you're reading this chapter and haven't been reading the rest of the story your probably going to be very confused. I'm planning on uploading the rest of the story after I finish it, just so it's on FanFiction, without the tributes list._**

**_But here it is folks... the Final Games chapter! Before we start, I just want to thank all of you for reading and being apart of this story. It's been a long time coming (now a year long) but we've finally made to everyone who has contributed to this story (either through submitted a tribute or reviewing or even reading to bring up traffic). Thank you all so much and I hope you enjoy the final chapter of the Games!_**

* * *

**Chapter 44 The 76th Victor**

**Day 10 of the 76th Hunger Games**

The clouds had dissipated entirely, though a shadowy atmosphere hung over the arena as the final three prepared to face off.

The Gamemakers had lead the remaining tributes back into the swamp for the Games final confrontation, in an area eerily similar to where Willabeana had fought Willow and Kaden six days earlier. Raven and Anastasia stood with their backs to saw grass, the harsh grass swaying easily in the breeze and rustling against each other. Willow stood on the opposite side of the flatland, a thick mangrove forest to her back. The forest swerved along one side to connect with the saw grass, creating a hybrid setting that was almost impossible to successfully move through. On the opposite side of the hybrid was a body of water, deep and diluted with mud and other products of the swamp. In the distance, the tributes could see the hills with the twisted trees on it, leading to the Cornucopia.

"I didn't expect either of you to make it this far." Willow called out, moving closer to the District 9 team. She casually held her axe up, resting it on her shoulder while giving Raven and Anastasia a friendly smile. "In fact, I didn't expect either of you to make it past the Bloodbath."

"But here we are." Raven responded evenly, holding up his scimitar and shield in preparation.

Willow laughed, even more so when she saw Anastasia hold up her knife. "How exactly did you two manage to make it to the final three?"

Neither of them responded, full concentration on Willow who didn't quite feel like fighting just yet.

"I can talk about myself first if you want." Willow offered with a laugh. "I've basically just been walking around killing people. It's a pretty good strategy for winning the Games if you ask me."

Anastasia felt her grip on the dagger tighten as she remembered Willow almost ending Willabeana's life and killing Kaden. "How many people have you killed?" Anastasia blurted out.

Willow eyed Anastasia, giving the young girl a deranged smile. "Annie, Annie," Willow mocked. "It's such a surprise to see you here. I thought for sure you would have fallen off the starting plate in the Bloodbath." She was surprised when Anastasia seemed unfazed by her jests. _'My, my how she has grown.'_ Willow thought to herself. "And Raven," Willow continued. "I thought... well I never thought much of you to be honest. You were always kind of there for me."

"And now I'm here in the final three." Raven responded.

"Yes, you are." Willow laughed. "But seriously, how have you guys survived? Both of you had to have killed someone to be here." Willow expected some sort of response quickly and she got one when she saw Anastasia's eyes drift only for a moment. "Annie you haven't killed anyone, have you?" Willow surmised. "But Ray has, hasn't he?"

"I have." Raven responded. "I killed Damian and Nicolae, and I'm going to kill you too."

Willow actually looked impressed. "You killed Nicolae?" She said in awe. "Well that's something, the whore not so much, but Nicolae! A District 2 Career? I can't wait to see how that happened when I'm back in the Capitol."

"The only person who's going back to the Capitol is Anastasia." Raven replied.

Willow began to laugh and continued to do so for almost a minute. "Are you kidding me?" She shouted, face red. "Her? Why should she be allowed to go back? What makes her more special then either of us?"

"She just is." Raven said. "You wouldn't be able to understand."

"Well if that's your argument then no, I don't believe I or anybody else could understand." Willow muttered.

Anastasia looked at Raven, still in shock that he was so adamantly defending her. Maybe he was being sincere; maybe he did want her to win? Raven was a complicated guy to say the least, but underneath it all was a good person. He just had a funny way of going about showing it. Anastasia placed a gentle hand on Raven's arm, smiling at him for the first time in days.

Raven looked at his partner, smiling when he saw her smiling. Raven wouldn't lie and say he wasn't terrified of dying, he knew what came afterwards. Darkness, and only that. There was nothing waiting for him once he died, this was it. That fear though didn't dissuade him though, he knew that what he was doing was the right thing. Anastasia would be a revolutionary Victor, a thirteen year old who won without killing and by the goodwill of others. Anastasia would be a figure for all of Panem to rally behind, to believe in and support. The Districts would love her and the Capitol would despise her.

Willow looked at the District pair with eyebrows raised. "What the fuck is this?" she shouted out. "Some weird pedophile shit?"

The partners looked at Willow with determined rage, raising their weapons to her once more. Willow smiled again, happy that the attention was back on her. "If you do manage to kill me, what makes you think that Gamemakers will allow you to kill yourself, Ray?" Willow asked. "They could just send the Valkyrie out here and kill Annie before you had the chance to kill yourself!"

The District pair was confused. "The Valkyrie?" Raven asked.

"You haven't met them?" Willow asked shocked. "They're the undead fuckers who are running around the arena! You know, big claws and teeth, stapled on faces!"

Anastasia gasped, "Willa and Tianora!" she said.

"So they're Valkyrie too? Doesn't surprise me. I came across ginger bitch yesterday, she looked better than when she was alive." Willow mocked. "At any rate, I think they all came from the Cornucopia area since it's creepy as shit over there. There are a bunch of odd statues there..."

Willow drifted off, sighing to herself.

"You know what, I'm tired of this shit. I've been in here for ten days surviving. I've killed four tributes, _four tributes!_ Do you realize how impressive that is? Careers only get that kind of kill amount!" Willow laughed, lost in happiness. "Now only you two stand in my way of getting out of here, and let me tell you guys how happy I am that it is you two."

"You're not leaving her alive." Raven responded.

"How adorable it is that you think I'm not." Willow responded. "Enough talk, there's a lot of people watching who want their Victor, and who are we to deny them one?"

Raven held firm, awaiting Willow to attack him first. She was armed with an axe and a knife on her side, though the shield he carried gave him an advantage on defense. Willow would no doubt be harsh with her attacks, but Raven knew he could deal with her. He pushed Anastasia behind him, putting himself in between Willow and her. Raven breathed in deeply and exhaled sharply, gathering his thoughts and courage.

He could do this.

Willow smiled, raising her axe in a threatening posture. "Let's have some fun." Willow said lightly.

Then she charged Raven.

Raven expected her to go on the offensive first, and raised his shield in front of him for defense. Anastasia backed up further to give Raven room to maneuver, as Willow moved to the side in an effort to move around Raven's shield. With the full extent of her limbs, Willow swung her axe towards Raven's chest. Raven shifted his stance, blocking the axe with his shield easily. Steel rang against itself as Willow stumbled back, her hands and arms shaking uncomfortably from the recoil. Raven felt it too and grunted in discomfort as pain swept up his left arm. He didn't relent though as he charged forward with his shield raised, slamming it into Willow, who fell into the dirt hard. Raven charged forward and stabbed at Willow with his sword, whom expertly rolled out of the way in time. Willow kept rolling until she almost hit the water, gasping in shock when she felt it brush against her.

Willow stood up quickly, raising her axe with her. She was quickly on the defensive as Raven charged her and swung out with his scimitar. Willow blocked and attempted to counter with her axe, but the combined effects of the recoil and Raven's shield made it almost impossible to land a hit. Willow disengaged and dodged to the side, barely missing another one of Raven's shield bashes. She backpedalled quickly, breathing heavily and contemplating her next move. Raven was a menace with that shield; he clearly didn't have a lot of experience with it be he was still milking it for everything it was worth. It was still a heavy shield though and Willow could tell that it was wearing him out based off the sweat and cries he made when using it.

_'I could wait for him to tire and then attack.'_ Willow thought to herself, before looking to Anastasia. _'Or I could go about this another way.'_

Willow charged Raven once more, axe raised high like before. Raven readied himself for another bash attack on Willow, hoping his exhaustion didn't show through. He didn't know how many times he could keep using the shield offensively as his arm was pained from the vibrations the shield made when it made contact with something. All he thought about doing was using the shield to knock Willow down and then stab her with his scimitar. He prepared himself to do just that as Willow kept charging forward, ready to bring her axe down on Raven.

Until she diverged from her path and charged at Anastasia.

Raven wasn't ready for this and reacted as so. He swung out blindly with his scimitar at Willow's figure, going for quick response over careful and planned. His swing missed and Willow continued towards Anastasia, who became wide eyed and terrified. She raised her knife in fear, knowing it had nothing against Willow's axe, before running towards the side closer to the water. Luckily, Raven managed to come to his senses and charge Willow, knocking her down with his shield. Willow fell face first into the dirt, scrambling away quickly before Raven could hit her again.

_'Damn it!'_ Willow thought angrily, her entire chest flaring in pain. _'I can't do anything if he still has that shield!'_

Raven charged at Willow and the two began to clash once more. Anastasia remained on the side near the water, watching the fight unfold anxiously. Raven was strong but Willow was determined and vicious. They had only been fighting for about minute but they both already looked exhausted, ten days in the arena hitting them hard even with their adrenaline pumping. Suddenly, Anastasia heard splashing sounds from behind her, as a creature seemed to be moving through the water. Anastasia turned and was surprised to see the sadly familiar feature of the snake mutt. It slithered through the water, its yellow eyes gazing at Anastasia menacingly.

An idea suddenly popped into Anastasia's mind.

It would be similar to how she played Kaden, but she was beyond feeling bad about it. The Games had broken her and she would willingly play by their rules.

"Willow!" Anastasia screamed out.

Raven and Willow were locked in close combat, Raven trying to overpower her with his sword. They both looked to Anastasia in shock as she stared at Willow challengingly.

"I want to kill you myself!" Anastasia shouted at her, raising her knife in an attack position.

Willow laughed, and then looked at Raven. "Well that sounds promising." she said to him.

Throwing her leg out, she kneed Raven in the thigh, causing him to grunt and fall forward onto Willow. She pushed him off of her and ran towards Anastasia with her axe held high. Anastasia looked at Willow with fear in her eyes and dodged to the side as the axe came swiping down wards. They were at the edge of the water and Anastasia looked nervously for the creature to make its appearance.

And then it did.

The water exploded and the snake mutt emerged, sighting two targets. Willow screamed when it burst from the water, memories of her last, almost deadly, encounter with the mutt coming to mind. Willow swung her axe at the mutt, though it slithered away easily, circling Willow to find a weak spot. Anastasia ran to Raven, who was trying to recover. "We need to get her in the water!" Anastasia commanded.

Raven, seeing Anastasia's plan, smiled at his partner. "With pleasure." He responded, running towards Willow. She was too distracted by the mutt to notice Raven coming up behind her with his sword raised. The mutt noticed however and gave a harsh hiss as he came closer, alerting Willow to the danger. She turned and blocked the sword but couldn't stop the shield smash that was delivered into her body. Willow screamed and fell into the water. In a few seconds, she broke through the surface screaming.

"HELP! NO, NO! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" She screamed as the mutt entered the water again, dragging her underneath the water. Willow's eyes were wide with fear as she felt her body consumed by water, her screams not doing her any favors. Within seconds she was completely submerged and blood was in the water, bubbles surfacing with it.

Raven turned to Anastasia, a smile on his face. They had done it, they had killed Willow. He began laughing in delight before screaming out loud in joy. Anastasia smiled with him, happy that the monster was finally dead. Raven relaxed, letting his deadly sin of pride overwhelm his mind. He hadn't even waited for the canon to sound before welcoming Willow's death.

Suddenly a figure emerged from the water as the mutt's body was thrown to the surface, followed by Willow. She ran out of the water, axe in one hand and her knife in the other. She had killed the mutt and she was out for Raven's blood now. Raven, unprepared, screamed in shock when the knife sunk into his knee, crippling him. Anastasia screamed as Raven fell and Willow grabbed the axe with both hands. Raising it high, Willow broke the axe down with ease towards Raven's neck.

"NO!" Anastasia screamed.

_WHACK!_

The axe was brought down, smashing into Raven's neck. Raven gasped, choking a scream as blood spewed from the back of his neck. Anastasia was screaming hysterically as Willow pulled the axe from Raven's neck and smashed it into the cut once more, cutting to his neck bone. She raised it once more, Raven's neck bones on full exposure to the world, and then smashed the axe into the wound again. Willow cut through the bone itself, severing the neck from the skull. Blood spewed everywhere as muscles and skin tore while Raven's head fell off fully. With a kick, Willow punted Raven's head away as a canon sounded.

Anastasia still stood a distance away, face pale and eyes wide. Willow laughed and turned to Anastasia, her body soaked with blood.

"You're next." Willow said.

Anastasia turned tail and ran, desperate to escape as tears formed in her eyes. As she sprinted away, Willow gave an insane howl and charged after her fleeing prey. Anastasia ran through the saw grass, eyes blurred with tears and lungs heavy. Raven was dead. He was dead and now she was left with Willow. _'I can't kill her!'_ Anastasia lamented. _'She's going to kill me!'_

Bursting out of the saw grass, Anastasia was forced to run through low hanging mangrove trees. Her small frame managed to allow her to weave her way through the twisting trees easily, though it did slow her down. Willow, having more experience with trees, sprinted through the trees with ease, catching up to Anastasia in no time.

"HOLD STILL!" Willow screamed, attempting to swing her axe in the grove. Anastasia screamed as the axe buried into a tree she was by only seconds earlier. Willow continued on, tearing the axe from the thick bark with ease. She reached out and grabbed Anastasia's long hair, dragging her closer. Anastasia screamed and blindly swung out with her knife behind her, trying to slice Willow's arm. She missed, but the threat was enough that Willow cautiously let released Anastasia from her grasp, cursing as the younger girl continued running away.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING OUT OF HERE ALIVE!" Willow hollered, "JUST ACCEPT WHAT'S COMING!"

Anastasia's mind was racing, fear driving through her as Willow's words rang home. She couldn't beat Willow in one on one combat, not with her dagger to her axe. She needed to even the playing field, somehow make Willow weaker.

A crazy idea popped into Anastasia's mind.

_'The Valkyrie!'_ Anastasia realized. _'They could hurt Willow!'_

It was risky, but Anastasia was desperate and she was in no position to sit back and think out rational plans with Willow right behind her. Immediately, Anastasia changed directions, running towards the large hill that led back to the Cornucopia. Willow had said she thought the Valkyrie came from there; it was worth a shot to run there and see. Willow continued after Anastasia, her pace not slowing a second. Anastasia forced her body into overdrive, telling herself to keep moving, to keep her legs moving faster and her heart beating. Her body was screaming for her to slow down, to stop and recover despite the immediate danger as it couldn't take anymore. Anastasia pushed on however, running up the hill towards the twisted trees as fast as she could. She chanced a glance back, screaming in fear as Willow began sprinting up the hill after her, blood stained axe raised high.

Breaking over the top of the hill, Anastasia sprinted past the trees with faces and ran towards the Cornucopia. As if on cue, Anastasia saw figures begin to rise from the gorge surrounding it, their bodies trailing with fog. They climbed out of the ground, each one as disturbing as the last with their decaying skin and stitched on faces. Leading the group was the Charm Valkyrie, looking menacing yet pleased to see the final two tributes coming her way. She howled to the sky and more Valkyrie emerged from the bamboo while others came from the swamp.

At the moment, Anastasia realized the horrifying fact that she had no 'next step' in her plan.

Willow came sprinting through the trees, actually looking disheartened when she saw the massive amount of Valkyrie. She was tough and proud of it, but even she had to admit that there was no way in hell she could take all of them. She had to kill Anastasia and she had to kill her fast before the Valkyrie overwhelmed them. Willow saw Charm awaiting them, her forked tongue licking her distorted lips with blood. Next to her was the Valkyrie of Auron, who looked at her expectantly, red eyes showing murderous intent.

"We don't want to kill them," Charm whispered to Auron, "But we do want to give them a scare."

Auron let out a loud scream that was echoed by the other Valkyrie who continued to charge at the remaining tributes. The Valkyrie were now all compromised off the fallen tributes, each of them immortalized in looks of agony and horror. The Bloodbath tributes were first, all in their blazing glory. Anastasia starred at them in fear, expecting them to tear her to pieces before Willow even arrived. She instinctively began to slow down, raising her knife to defend herself. However they ran around her and began forming a circle around the two tributes. Anastasia kept running though as Willow came closer, driving her closer to the Cornucopia. Anastasia looked ahead, gasping in shock when she saw the Kaden and Axel Valkyrie sprinting towards them. Like the others they dodged her and instead went for Willow. Anastasia was surprised as the other Valkyrie did not do this, but then she realized something. Willow was responsible for both of their deaths and they wanted vengeance. Anastasia had not killed anybody so she would not be attacked.

Charm had moved away from the gorges crossing, pointing to the Cornucopia with her clawed finger. "We can't go there." She shouted Anastasia with a twisted smile.

Anastasia, desperate, took Charm's advice and sprinted past the other Valkyrie and onto the Cornucopia island. Meanwhile, Willow was pissed that she now had to deal with two Valkyrie. Axel charged forward first, claws slashing at every available part of Willow's body. She expertly dodged the attacks and embedded her axe into Axel's chest quickly, tearing it from his chest and moving onto Kaden.

"Am I really going to have to kill you again?" She asked him.

Kaden screeched and charged at Willow, who sprinted forward and dodged to the right as his hand grasped for her body. With one swift movement, Willow brought the axe to Kaden's head and embedded her axe into his skull for the second time. Kaden's body went stiff and he fell over dead.

"Don't fix what isn't broken." Willow said, spitting on the figure of Kaden. She then tried to remove the axe from Kaden, but it was stuck and her time was limited as an Isabella Valkyrie charged at her. Willow abandoned it and charged after Anastasia, crossing the gorge easily and without interruption from the Valkyrie.

Anastasia stared at Willow dumbfounded, drawing her knife in preparation. Willow rose slowly, drawing her knife. On the other side of the gorge, the Valkyrie screamed in fury, banging their clawed hands against their faces and bodies. Charm shouted at them and the remaining Valkyrie sprinted around the gorge, falling into place beside their respective statue. They all stood there, staring at the remaining tributes, screaming in their agonizing melody.

Willow looked at the Valkyrie with humor. "I think they're a little upset, wouldn't you say?" she asked.

Anastasia tightened her grip on her knife and began to back up, moving along the side of the Cornucopia. The golden metal was emanating heat, paining Anastasia to be too close to it. Willow kept coming closer, hungry eyes desiring Anastasia's immediate death.

"Now as I've said before, it's time to die." Willow mocked, letting out a short fit of laughter.

Anastasia's expression hardened. "No." she responded. "It's time for you to die!"

Willow made a tisking sound with her tongue. "Annie, do you really think you can take me? Because I know you can't. I think I can take you though and shove this knife through your throat and bleed you out like a pig!"

Anastasia's tough look broke for a moment as her mind pictured such a death. "I'm not dying." she responded with a slight crack in her voice.

"Of course you are! I know it isn't a pleasant thought for you, but don't try to deny what's about to happen." Willow said in a soothing tone. "I do understand how awkward it must be for you, thinking about all the people who had to die for you to get here."

The Damian Valkyrie howled in agony, louder than the rest. Anastasia's body shook with fear but she didn't dare chance a look at them. She could only imagine the Willabeana, Tianora, Kaden, and Raven Valkyrie screaming with him if they were there.

"Even I've got to admit how sad it is." Willow mocked, before her expression darkened to rage. "Until I remember how much bullshit it is. I fought, I competed, and I struggled all by myself for ten fucking days in here! Ten days, all by myself! I've killed five tributes! I've been forced to suffer by myself, and now you think you're going to win? IT ISN'T FUCKING RIGHT! You got here because of luck and you always had someone to die for you! But not anymore, you're all by yourself now, Annie!"

"You're not the only one who's suffered!" Anastasia shot back. "This arena makes everyone suffer! The Games make everyone suffer!"

"But did you suffer before this?" Willow screamed. "I bet you didn't have a father who was bat shit insane! Who treated you like shit and tried to kill you! He's the reason I'm like this! BECAUSE OF WHAT HE DID!"

Anastasia paused, face hardening. "You are who you are because that's how you were born!" Anastasia shouted. "If you're father was insane than you just inherited it from him."

"You prepubescent bitch!" Willow screamed. "YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT I'VE DEALT WITH! I've suffered everyday for the past ten years! I've been beaten, I've been raped, I've been worked to the bone for fucking overlords who don't give a shit about me! I watched my mom die in front of me! And you, what have you suffered? What have you lost? NOTHING! You had a family, you had friends, you had a good fucking life! And now that life is up. You've had your time and now it's time for you to go. I deserve a better life, I deserve to be VICTOR!"

Anastasia paused, though her expression didn't soften. "You're right, we've had different lives. But that doesn't mean you should win. It doesn't mean that at all. Don't try and pass off your dad as the reason why you're insane or why you like killing! YOU LIKE TO KILL BECAUSE YOU'RE A MONSTER! A FREAK! A MURDERER! You like to watch people suffer because you're insane!"

"These Games weren't made for goodie two shoes like you to win!" Willow shouted back, eyes wide with that very insanity. "They were for monsters like me to win! For people with haunted pasts and memories! This is my way of getting a better life, of being free! I'm not going to lose to you, Anastasia Louivere! I'm going to kill you and claim my prize!"

"I'm not going to die." Anastasia shouted. "I'm going to win the Games and go home! To many people have died because of me. If I die now then they would have died for nothing!"

Willow screamed and charged at Anastasia, knife swinging out blindly at the smaller girl. Anastasia dodged to the side and sliced at Willow's left arm, forming a clean cut across it. Willow gasped in pain but powered through it, pivoting in the sand and slicing at Anastasia's face. Anastasia dodge again but barely so, losing her balance and falling onto her back. Willow raised a foot and slammed it down at Anastasia, who rolled out of the way quickly and got back to her feet. She struggled for balance, trying to keep her vision straight. Willow allowed her no such time to recover as she tackled Anastasia to the ground and dug her knife into Anastasia's thigh.

Anastasia screamed and the Valkyrie screamed with her, delighting in her pain. With her other hand, Willow pushed Anastasia's head into the sand to expose her jugular. Pulling the knife from her thigh, Willow brought the knife to Anastasia's throat to end her life but was interrupted by an eruption of pain. In her rage, Willow had forgotten to properly defend herself and looked down in shock when she saw Anastasia's knife piercing her abdomen. She screamed as her vision blurred, her organs pierced and giving off blood. Anastasia tore the knife from Willow and scrambled away to get better leverage over Willow, though tripped when Willow grabbed her leg and dragged her closer. Willow raised her knife to stab Anastasia in the calf, though was stopped when Anastasia delivered a strong kick to Willow's face, breaking her nose.

Willow reeled back, hating the taste of her own blood streaming into her mouth. Things were getting fuzzy and Willow began to panic when she realized she was loosing blood. The knife wound from Anastasia had gone straight for Willow's organs, the natural layer of fat and muscle gone too, lost to her body's cannibalism of itself to keep strong. She had to kill Anastasia and she had to do it quick.

Willow rose to her feet, gasping in pain before she fell onto all fours. Willow suddenly realized that she had lost her knife when Anastasia stabbed her, releasing it on reflexes of pain. She didn't have time to retrieve it as Anastasia charge forward and attempted to stab Willow in the neck. Willow, screaming in pain, raised her upper body up and grabbed Anastasia's knife arm to block her. Her vision pulsed before her eyes, the blood loss making her feel lightheaded. She refused to give up though, refused to let this pathetic, spoiled brat win the Games. _HER GAMES!_

Anastasia meanwhile was using all her strength against Willow. Even in her weakened state, Willow was stronger than Anastasia. The knife quivered in the air as Willow tried to knock it away, with only her left arm. Her right was wrapped around her waists, supporting her and attempting to stop the bleeding. Anastasia looked into Willow's pained eyes, understanding the suffering that Willow had gone through in life. Anastasia could never imagine how she might have turned out if she was in Willow's shoes, the very idea sickened her to no end. But that didn't give Willow the right to win. The Games shouldn't glorify the evil and twisted tributes, they should allow for good people like herself to win!

_'I shouldn't even be here!'_ Anastasia thought to herself. _'It should be Willabeana, Tianora, Damian, or Raven. I don't deserve this...'_

_'But neither does Willow.'_

_'I'm not going to die now. Raven wanted me to win. Willabeana wanted me to win. I won't let them down.'_

_'They will not have died for nothing!'_

Anastasia looked to the sky, a single tear rolling down her face as her body shook from the force of Willow's. "God give me strength." she said, before looking back down at Willow. "I'm sorry." she whispered.

Then she kicked out with her foot into Willow's stomach.

Willow crumpled over, her knees giving out from support. The knife came plummeting down and almost dug into Willow's neck, now hovering above by mere centimeters above it by the last of Willow's strength. Anastasia pushed harder, begging for the knife to end Willow's life. Willow had other plans though, and with her freed arm she pushed off the ground and push into Anastasia's chest, making her fall backwards. Anastasia hit the ground, clinging onto the knife tightly, but didn't stay down long. She quickly got back up on her feet, watching with a mix of horror and pity as Willow dragged her bloodied body closer to hers.

"I'm not dying!" Willow screeched loudly, the taste of blood now creeping up her esophagus. As Anastasia stood up tall, Willow used the last of her strength to force her body off the ground and charge at Anastasia. She only made it half way, only able to tackle Anastasia from the waist down. It was enough though to cause Anastasia to fall down once more, unable to escape Willow. The two tributes looked at each other only for a second, though it felt like much longer to the two of them. Willow demonic, broken face sent chills down Anastasia's spine while Anastasia's innocent, equally as broken face caused Willow to feel nothing but rage.

_'It's time to end this!'_ They both thought to themselves.

Willow screamed as Anastasia did, their voices contributing to the cacophony of Valkyrie howls. Anastasia, knife still in hand, prepared to stab it into Willow's exposed heart area while Willow forced her hand to Anastasia's throat while the other reached towards her belt. Anastasia's struggled but Willow was stronger, preventing flexible movement. With one last scream, Anastasia threw her arm forwards as Willow did hers.

Steel pierced flesh.

A bloody gasp was emitted as air was driven from the victim's lungs.

There was no movement for a few seconds, just the two tributes staring at one another with varying emotions. Then Willow fell to the side, gasping in pain as yet more blood poured from her abdomen. Anastasia turned to look at Willow, face shocked when she saw the look of joy on Willow's face.

"I told you I'd kill you." Willow whispered, her trademark smile returning to her face.

Anastasia coughed up blood, thick and coarse, and blindly reached for the arrow that Willow had plunged into her neck artery. The arrow that had once belonged to Isabella. The arrow Isabella had lost when she loosed it at Raven. The arrow that Willow had found two days ago near the waterfall.

The arrow that had been used to end Anastasia's life.

Or would be.

With a triumphant cry, Willow grabbed the arrow in Anastasia's neck and pulled it closer to her, slicing open Anastasia's neck. Blood spewed forth, staining Anastasia's pale skin and the white sand beneath her. Her body twitched and struggled for air, only able to inhale blood. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she tried to think of some happy memory for her final moments in this world.

Only memories of suffering and despair came to mind though.

The darkness took Anastasia, whose canon followed shortly afterwards.

The Valkyrie began screaming in agony once more, causing Willow to look over at them. Willow caught the glance of Charm who looked at her in rage, upset that Willow had not died. Her success was confirmed seconds later by a loud and joyous voice.

_"Ladies and Gentlemen of Panem! It is our honor to present to you the Victor of the 76th Annual Hunger Games - Willow Bark of District 7!"_

Suddenly the Valkyrie began to vomit out blood, black in color and awful in smell. Their skin began to darken and membranes became apparent even from the distance Willow was at. They began to fall to their feet, their decaying skin finally sliding off their bloodies and into a bloody pile along with their disintegrating muscles. The Valkyrie began to scream in agony, this time their own, as the Gamemakers culled them. They had outlived their purpose and were now part of the finale show. Willow's strength came back to her as a mix of emotions overwhelmed her senses.

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Willow screamed at the sky, lying on the ground looking up. "I WON! I WON THE FUCKING HUNGER GAMES! I'M YOUR FUCKING VICTOR, PANEM! AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

She continued screaming triumphantly, oblivious to the pain that racked her body. This was the happiest day of Willow's life and she wasn't going to let her own suffering get in the way of it. A hovercraft materialized above her as a ladder descended towards her. Willow was still screaming in happiness as it landed next to her, lighting up like a landing pad. Willow wrapped her arm around one of the steps tightly, unable to climb it. The pilots understood this and the ladder began returning to the hovercraft, Willow still on it.

Willow soared above the arena, watching the Valkyrie turn to puddles of melted muscle and blood. She saw Anastasia's lifeless body laying in the sand, her arms outstretched and legs close together. She looked like the letter T to Willow and oddly angelic with her red blood pouring behind her life a cape. Willow looked elsewhere as she felt her vision fade. She looked to the bamboo stalks, the swamp, and the destroyed hills. It was hell on Earth, but it was a hell that she had survived. By being the best monster of them all.

"I did it mom, I won..." Willow whispered to herself, "I did it..."

Willow's eyes closed as she entered the bright, sterile hovercraft cargo hold, letting the sweet darkness take hold of her.

* * *

The Gamemaker control room had erupted into a festival as the 76th Victor was hoisted from the arena, cheers of excitement going with the popping of champagne bottles. Some Gamemakers drank their hearts out, some kissed one another in glee, and some began giving their own off key rendition of popular songs.

Plutarch did not take a part in any of these celebrations. He sat in the Head Gamemaker's chair, overseeing the entire control room. He kept his eyes on the screen, watching the 76th Victor escape the arena as Caesar and Claudius reigned praise and celebrated with their live studio audience. Camera shots took the screen to other locations across the Capitol where joyous fans cheered for the exciting finale. There were even a few shots of the Victor's Districts, where citizens cheered for their Victor and the gifts a victory in the Hunger Games would bring them.

But Plutarch thought little of those people or for celebrating. His mind was elsewhere, lost in a whole other world. Seneca Crane, his mentor and friend, was dead by his hand. Lydia de Veillux was still alive though her daughter wasn't and her household had all been annihilated. Guilt still crept up on Plutarch as he remembered the night he had turned on Lydia to Snow.

He had been ordered to do it by District 13. President Coin did not see Lydia as an appropriate Capitolite they could control. The chaos she was spreading was doing more harm to District 13's cause than good. Most importantly, however, Lydia's wish for the end of the Hunger Games was what was the fatal blow to her. Despite the horror and barbarism that came with the Games, they did serve one purpose for District 13 and the rebels.

They united the Districts.

They united the Districts in pain, in fear, in rage of the Capitol. The Capitol had work hard to keep the Districts separate, to make sure they knew little about the other. To believe that their District was the worst and the other Districts thrived while their District suffered. The Capitol, however, couldn't help but show all of Panem though that they all suffered together through the Games, even the Career Districts did. It was the one uniting force that District 13 had.

The Hunger Games were a necessary evil if District 13 wanted to unite the twelve divided Districts.

In his pocket, Plutarch felt his phone vibrating. He pulled it out quickly, the device lighting up in his hand softly. It was a burn phone and beyond Snow's ability to trace. He read the message and saw the image that accompanied it, happy with both.

_'M is safe. Bringing her to apartment.'_

Below the message was an image of Madge Undersee's body.

Plutarch smiled to himself. He knew about Madge's abduction and torture thanks to Snow, shocked by the young girl's resilience against the evils she was faced with. She could be a valuable asset to him and District 13, if she was properly molded.

Perhaps there was a ray of hope in this mess of the world.

* * *

**_Poll Results for Victor_**

**_Raven: 13 Votes_**

**_Willow: 8 Votes_**

**_Anastasia: 5 Votes_**

**_Seriously? I was shocked to find so many Raven supporters, where the heck are you guys? Maybe you'll review now..._**

**_Celebration in the Capitol and District next, followed by the Victory Tour chapters and Epilogue._**


	2. Death Becomes You, Victor

**Chapter 45 Death Becomes You, Victor**

**The Capitol**

The world came into view as foggy and undefined at first before filling out. Willow sighed heavily, feeling as though her body had gained a number of pounds despite her limited eating habits throughout the Games. Slowly, Willow mustered up her strength to sit up straight, shocked to find herself laying in a hospital bed.

Groaning, Willow forced herself to accept the hospital conditions that had plagued her when she first came to the Capitol. The pristine patient room, the plastic tube wrapped around her face that blew clean air up her nose, the feeling of needles sticking into her arm, the feeling of chemicals being forced into her, and the feeling of disempowering that came with it. Willow hated it all, especially the part where she was laying naked in the hospital bed.

The doors to the room opened and a woman with purple hair walked in first, followed by two male nurses. The woman smiled at Willow, examining a holographic pad at the end of Willow's bed.

"Ms. Bark!" The woman said happily, "I'm Dr. Novella and let me say what an honor it is to be the first to congratulate you on your Victory in the Hunger Games!"

"I remember you." Willow began, before stopping when she heard herself speak. She recognized Dr. Novella as the woman who gave the tributes the medicine back in training, but Willow was less distracted by that and more so by her voice.

Dr. Novella sensed her discomfort and laid a comforting hand on Willow's arm. "Capitol surgery, Victor Bark." She explained. "We just had the doctors tweak your vocal cords. It makes you sound… sultrier. And don't worry, there aren't any scars left on your body!"

"I liked my old voice better!" Willow said angrily, wincing in pain as the nurses adjusted the needles in her arm. The new voice sounded weak to Willow, making her sound friendlier and less dangerous. Now no one would take her seriously when she was threatening their lives! Willow's eyes shot open wider when she realized the rest of Dr. Novella's sentence. "What do you mean, anywhere on my body?"

"To be blunt, Victor Bark, when you arrived in the Capitol you were not in the best condition." Dr. Novella responded, her tone professional. "Not that it's your fault in any way, it's like that for all none Career tributes really. We always seem to get them on the brink of death-"

"AAH!" Willow screamed, noticing for the first time he exposed breasts. She had felt them when she instinctively reached for her neck to check for scars. Willow looked down, surprised to see how they had grown in size. Even her nipples had adjusted in size.

"What did you do to me?" Willow shouted, becoming rowdy. "What the hell did you… did… did you do to me..."

Willow felt herself becoming calmer and less aggressive. She looked over to the nurses next to her, noticing how they were injecting sedatives into her system. Dr. Novella looked at her kindly. "We understand that physical changes can be traumatic at first, but I can assure you that you'll come to love them! Now, would you like to hear about the medical procedures preformed on you?"

Willow nodded her head, trying to grasp onto some form of aggression towards Dr. Novella. The sedatives kept away such thoughts however, much to Willow's absent rage. She was at the Capitol's mercy once more.

"Excellent!" Dr. Novella began, looking at the holographic pad in front of her. "Let's start with superficial changes first before moving into the darker, gloomier procedures. As you've already noticed, your breasts have been increased a full cup size along with your glutinous Maximus. That would be your buttocks. Facially, the doctors raised your cheekbones, repaired your nose, and with a brand new medical procedure, managed to make your eyes crystal blue! It's such a lovely shade, I'm slightly jealous. You won't have to wear contacts or anything!"

Willow didn't want to look at her face, knowing that she probably wouldn't recognize herself anymore. "Anything else?" she asked instead.

"The rest of your body was deemed acceptable. You are midway through puberty and the procedures preformed on you will allow for your body to continue through puberty just fine." Dr. Novella remarked. "The only other part of your body they could have adjusted was your vaginal region, but it was deemed acceptable."

Willow's eyes shot open in rage, "ACCEPTABLE?" she screamed through the sedative.

"Do try and calm yourself, Victor Bark." Dr. Novella said. "It's no big deal."

Willow attempted to unleash her anger once more, but the nurses flooded her system with more sedatives. She lay there instead, listening to Dr. Novella detail her other procedures. How they had to bring her back nearly from the brink of death due to the wound Anastasia had delivered to her abdomen. Apparently if the wound had been lower near her pelvis, one of Willow's major arteries would have been ruptured and died. "You're extremely lucky too as Tribute Louivere showed extraordinary skill in the field of medicine for someone so young." Dr. Novella said, with an oddly respectful tone for the dead girl. "It's odd that she didn't try and attack you near the arteries."

Willow bit back defense for Anastasia, finding talking tiresome. When someone is in the middle of battle, everything is chaotic and ones mind doesn't think rationally. Willow could understand _why_ Anastasia wouldn't think to attack Willow in her arteries, but she didn't give a shit about it. Willow thrived in battle while Anastasia did not. It was the reason she was here and the thirteen year old was probably now in a coffin being sent back to District 9. Willow laughed to herself, find the size of the coffin amusing for some reason. She could see Raven's as long while Anastasia's as tiny... such an odd pair...

At this point, Willow had blocked out everything Dr. Novella had been saying. Within minutes, Willow had drifted again into a comfortable sleep, her thoughts focused on her coming Victory party.

* * *

After one more day in the hospital, Willow was finally realized to give her interview for all of Panem.

Willow's prep team was ecstatic to see her again and quickly began to the process of making her appropriate for television. They dressed her in a single sleeve, long red dress that generously showed off her new breasts and curves while highlighting her blonde hair and light skin. Her hair was done in a simple fashion with small curves at the ends, going nicely with a golden necklace that eerily reminded Willow of a collar and a golden brooch of a willow tree on her sleeve. As soon as her prep team deemed her 'positively fantastic', Willow was taken by her escort to the stage where she would once more be introduced to the Capitol.

Caesar was currently whipping the crowd up, getting them even more excited then they were already. Willow, with her six kills, was already a favored Victor of the Capitol and Willow was eager to please them more. She wasn't so happy with her new appearance, finding everything so overdone and discomforting. At least the Capitol hadn't put diamonds in her body or done whatever other crazy mutilations they did for their twisted sense of fashion.

Willow heard Caesar finish his spiel and soon the stage was raised up, displaying her for the entire Capitol. The crowd was crazy for her as hundreds of Capitolites cheered her every movement. Willow thought at first she was going to be above it all, pretending like their praise didn't matter, but soon she got wrapped up in the excitement of it all that she too began to play along. This only wetted the crowd's appetite and the cheering grew louder and soon turned into chanting.

_BARK!_

_BARK!_

_BARK!_

The crowd cheered her name like a war cry, like _she_ was their President. Willow felt like she had actually power over these pathetic excuses for humans, something she never felt unless she was about to kill someone. Was this why people tried to seize power, for this feeling? If so then Willow could completely understand, the feeling of love and control was absolutely mesmerizing.

Caesar walked up to her and shook her hand furiously, complimenting her as quickly as he could. To the delight of the crowd, Willow and Caesar seemed to be having a 'smile-off', trying to see who could smile the biggest. Eventually, the confetti and the bright lights subsided and shortly after Willow and Caesar took their seats. Caesar, still smiling brightly, looked at Willow with all the love in the world. "Victor Bark, it is such a pleasure to have you here!"

"I hope you didn't miss me too much, Caesar." Willow joked.

Caesar laughed. "I would be lying if I said no. What about you, folks? Did you miss your Victor?"

The audience cheered once more, just as loud as they had been before. With the lights dimmed, Willow was actually able to make out a few of the faces in the crowd, surprised by the attire. Apparently a District 7 victory had inspired everybody to embrace nature, specifically trees. Every shade of green seemed to make up the audience; some members even had their skin dyed green. The oddest thing she saw though was a group of women who looked like they had... trees growing out of their bodies. The roots of the trees were actually underneath their skin, creating odd bumps on their arms. Willow imagined herself with a tiny axe just chopping them down, which helped her get over her discomfort of seeing the women.

"It appears they love you dearly already!" Caesar laughed.

Willow smiled at Caesar, "I couldn't imagine why they wouldn't! I promised you a show and did I deliver?"

Once more the crowd burst into mindless applause for their Victor. They kept going and eventually Caesar had to quiet them all down. "You're making me play the bad guy, Victor Bark!" Caesar remarked jokingly.

"Caesar, you could never be the bad guy." Willow remarked. "You're far to much of a gentlemen!"

Caesar laughed along with the audience, bowing humbly in his seat to Willow's kindness. Caesar let the crowd calm down itself this time before addressing Willow again. "Ten days in the arena, that hellish arena where you traversed diverse landscapes and came face to face with true horror. How are you feeling?"

The audience laughed, along with Willow, at such a basic question for a non-basic person. "Amazing!" Willow replied. "I knew from the beginning that I would be your Victor, but just because I knew doesn't mean I don't feel good about it."

"Ah ha!" Caesar said, pointing a accusing finger at Willow. "There's that prideful attitude we've all come to know and love here!"

Willow held up her hands in a show of mock surrender. "Guilty as charge!" she said, to the laughs of the audience and Caesar. Willow never knew she could be this comedic. Perhaps she should kill more people to make it a regular thing?

The two of them chatted for a while more before Caesar asked if she wanted to watch the recap of the Games. Willow, and the audience, enthusiastically accepted and soon the stage lights dimmed and the massive television screen lit up, beginning the recap of the 76th Games.

The first montage was of Willow's Reaping, where she skipped up to the stage when her name was called. The audience loved the enthusiasm of Willow and cheered wildly through the entire thing. The rest of the first hour was taken up with a lot of pre-Games activity that Willow found boring to watch. The editors took the time to focus on Willow's development, showing shots of her in the training center threatening Charm and others with her training axe while taking down dummies with it. She had even gotten her own theme song, which the entire audience seemed to know the tune for already as they hummed along. Besides herself, the editors also focused on other tributes, mainly those who made it into the final ten, which upset Willow greatly. The rest of the tributes were dead, they shouldn't be caring about them anymore!

Training ended and scenes from the interviews were shown. Willow's interview was heavily edited to show her as... well Willow wasn't quite sure what to describe it as. Whatever it was it certainly wasn't _her_. She seemed softer and more fragile, but at the same time strong and confident. The entire thing was confusing and she was happy when the interviews concluded. Willow thought about mentioning how a Peacekeeper had beaten her within an inch of her life and ask why that wasn't in there, but decided against it.

Then it was time for the Bloodbath.

Loud pounding of a drum was heard as the tributes prepared to sprint off their plates. The camera focused on Willow once more, her theme song playing loudly over the audience's cheers for their Victor.

**BANG!**

The gong went off and the Games began, the viewpoints drifting away from Willow to get the full scope of chaos. Joshua was the first to go down, head bashed in easily by Nicolae. The camera then panned to Choux and Danielle, dramatic music playing as Choux betrayed his District partner and screamed about not wanting to die. Next to fall was Azzura, the editors removing the part where she was screaming about Jonathan trying to rape her.

Charm's death was especially hyped as it was Willow's first kill. The camera zoomed in on Willow, her theme song blaring loudly as she stood over Charm's dead body, axe dripping red blood. The audience cheered as Willow held her axe happily, sprinting away as Auron chased after her.

"Quite the kill!" Caesar applauded.

"I made a promise I'd kill her, and I don't back down from promises!" Willow announced happily, enjoying watching Charm die all over again.

"It's a shame that wasn't the last you saw of her." Caesar commented.

Willow laughed. "True, but I still put her in her place."

The Bloodbath continued without mercy. Nicolae impaled Delvin, Cyra was slashed in half by Kaden, Wren's face was cut open by Nicolae's sword, and then the ground around the Cornucopia opened up. In the gorge, Raven bashed Damian's head in while Caspian stabbed Demi through the heart. Willow began to lose interest as the scenes focused on Ivy escaping the Cornucopia with an injured Isabella while Axel tailed them, along with scenes of Kaden and his alliance. Her mood only darkened when the screen showed Daira escaping her grasp by escaping across the river.

"Missed her by that much!" Caesar exclaimed, holding his fingers a short distance apart.

"No need to remind me, Caesar. I'm still pissed about it." Willow replied harshly. She was looking forward to seeing how Daira had died though.

Day one in the arena ended and day two began shortly after the editors showed the full list of the Fallen. With fifteen tributes remaining and Willow spending the majority of the time by herself, the editors began to focus on the other tributes in the arena. Choux's descent into insanity was captured in full, making Willow laugh at his weak will. Kaden's insanity was played up quite a bit as well. It became clear from editing that the producers were portraying Kaden as a manipulative psychopath while the three girls in his alliance were weak willed and clung to him in desperation. Willow could believe that Anastasia was like that, but Tianora and Willabeana had never struck her as the type.

The camera briefly gave the Careers some screen time, showing the conflict they faced internally and how they split up for hunting. The screen changed to show the building friendship of Ivy and Isabella and then the eventual death of Axel. Willow perked up at the latter part, quite happy to see another one of her kills on the screen.

Day three featured little of Willow and instead focused Kaden's alliance. Tianora was portrayed as leaving the alliance out of fear and was run down by Kaden, who proceeded to curb stomp her to death. Willow was mesmerized by the violence of it and the sick expression of horror on Tianora's face. She wished she were strong enough to attempt that on someone. Willow cared little for Choux's death, though the audience seemed to find it hysterical. Choux had been turned into a comedic figure during the recap, everything about him seemingly a joke. Willow had no respect for him to begin with so she hardly cared what the pathetic, spoiled brat from District 8 was portrayed as.

"Your big moment is up soon!" Caesar exclaimed happily.

"Don't you mean 'another big moment'?" Willow asked, causing Caesar to laugh and pat her supportively on the shoulder.

Sure enough, it was time for the Willow vs. Willabeana fight. The editors had expertly weaved together a perfect fight scene, intertwining every moment of it with perfect musical numbers that highlighted the tension in it. Even though everybody knew what was coming, Willow noticed that the majority of the audience was on the edge of their seats or squirming in them. She was surprised to learn that Anastasia had manipulated Kaden into helping her protect Willabeana. Willow was also shocked to see how close she came to death by Kaden's hand, only saved by the mutts and Kaden's horror when he realized how he had been tricked. The audience enjoyed that part and cheered when Willow ended his life. They became extremely upset though when the mutts almost killed her.

"That was some quick thinking on your part." Caesar said, indicating how Willow had used the mud to hide from the mutt's heat vision.

Willow shrugged. "What can I say? I'm an intelligent girl!" she remarked.

The rest of the day dragged on for Willow as the editors showed Raven betraying Isabella and Ivy, followed by Willabeana giving her life for Anastasia's. The Capitolites were in tears at Willabeana's sacrifice, but Willow felt like barfing at how dramatically hyped up the editors had made it.

_'Why the hell do these people like her?'_ Willow though angrily. _'She's a fucking moron!'_

She was happy though when Auron bashed Willabeana's skull in, though less happy with what followed. Nothing exciting happened for a while as the producers focused on what Caesar called "character development". Willow snorted when she heard that, she'd take violence over character any day.

"I though people watched the Hunger Games for the violence, not for the characters." Willow said bitterly.

Raven and Anastasia teamed up, tensions flared in the Career alliance, Willow sat around recovering from the mutt attack, and Ivy and Isabella bonded over their District lives. It was odd listening to them talking about going back to their District lives, knowing that it was no longer a possibility. The only interesting thing to happen was the fish mutt attack on Daira, who barely escaped with her life. Willow was angry that the mutt didn't finish her off, but watching her die slowly from infection was also satisfying. She was obviously in tremendous pain and Willow enjoyed every second it was shown on screen.

Well, that and Ivy's death. It was unexpected to say the least and completely broke Isabella mentally. Willow smiled as she watched Isabella lament, eager to see her own death on screen.

The final hour of the Games was unrelenting, with tributes seeming to drop every five minutes. First, the Valkyrie made their appearance in an assault on the Careers. Nicolae, who was completely insane thanks to withdrawal, escaped to the safe zone surrounding the Cornucopia while the three other members of the Careers dispersed. Daira finally expired from the infection in front of a broken Isabella before Jonathan attempted to... well Willow wasn't quite sure what he was going to do with Isabella. Caspian appeared however and snapped his neck, putting an end to the pathetic boy. There was some more bonding shown between Isabella and Caspian as she made him promise to take her with him to face Nicolae, along with some weird bonding between the Charm Valkyrie and Nicolae, who kept muttering about some girl called Amara.

Eventually, Caspian knocked Isabella and fought Nicolae by himself. He lost and was brutally killed, much to Willow's joy. It was obvious though that a lot of the audience was less than happy with this, sincerely wanting Caspian to win over Nicolae. _'Ah well, you don't always get what you want.' _Willow thought to herself.

Willow was given the spotlight again when day eight rolled around, showing her fully recovered and finding the arrow that would bring her victory. Raven and Anastasia were shown some more bonding time, the audience enraptured by the buddying friendship between the last remaining District pair. The audience was extremely tense when the Willabeana and Tianora Valkyrie attacked the tributes, actually cheering for Raven as he beat them down. Willow shot them all dirty looks, angry that her adoring crowd cared for the dead tribute more than her.

However, attention was soon dropped on her again once her parents made an appearance.

Willow was shown fleeing her parents, meeting with Charm, and then having her parents kill Auron. Willow was happy once it was over, mainly because she hated how terrified it looked though the audience appeared to love it since it showed her 'human' side more, whatever that meant. Later, Nicolae was offed by Raven and Anastasia as he screamed about loving Amara. Willow rolled her eyes and snorted, actually wanting to meet Amara just so she could insult the bitch.

_'I always knew he was a pathetic Career.'_ Willow thought.

Isabella was surprisingly killed without much fanfare. She was given a fair bit of screen time and her death's traumatic nature was captured in full, but for some reason it felt... different than the rest. Like the editors only focused on Isabella killing her demonic younger sister and not Willow killing Isabella. None of that matter too much though as the final battle came.

Like her Willabeana fight, Willow found that the editors had done the fight scene justice as each bit transitioned perfectly and kept the tension high throughout. There was never a dull moment and Willow found her own heart racing while watching it. Scenes kept flashing in her head of her being there, of the exhaustion and triumphant she felt fighting the District 9 team. It all ended when stabbed her arrow into Anastasia's throat before tearing it out. The Valkyrie screamed and Willow screamed, eyes open wide and looking triumphant.

And then Willow, sitting on stage with Caesar, screamed in horror.

Her actually scream though was lost in the wave of the audience's cheers, whom were on their feet applauding and celebrating Willow was she was lifted from the arena all over again. Willow however was traumatized, not daring to look at herself on the screen once more. She was shaking violently, the image she had just seen branded into her mind.

_'Those eyes!'_ Willow thought to herself. _'Those were my father's eyes!'_

_'No... no they were my eyes!'_

_'THEY CAN'T BE! I... I'm not like him!'_

The recap ended and the audience eventually calmed down as Caesar was preparing to ask Willow some questions. He noticed however that Willow suddenly seemed distance and traumatized. "Is everything ok, Victor Bark?" he asked her.

Willow's shocked face disappeared, replaced by her normal smile. "Of course!" she said happily.

Caesar laughed and began asking questions. The majority was basic, like her strategy in the arena, thoughts on certain tributes, and how she dealt with the emotional difficulties in the arena. Willow answered most of the questions quickly and with wit, much to the audiences joy. Nobody liked a downer Victor.

However, Willow's attitude changed when Caesar said his final question.

"What was it like seeing your parents again, Victor Bark?" Caesar asked carefully, obviously worried about the outburst she would cause. "I don't imagine it was easy, considering what you described happening to them in the arena and during your interview."

Willow opened to say something, but nothing came out. She wasn't quite sure what to say and Caesar noticed this, helping her along instead. "It must have been nice to see your mother at least." he said.

Willow nodded her head slowly. "Y-yes." she said, for the first time stuttering. "I miss her a lot."

"I was told you have a token of her?" Caesar asked.

Once more, Willow nodded, holding the necklace her stylists had added to her gown. She opened the locket and displayed it proudly for the audience, the camera's zooming in on it and displaying it for the whole nation. "We took this photo when I was four." Willow said. "It's the only picture I have of her."

The audience awed collectively at Willow, trying to show support for her. Willow wished they would all stop though, not wanting to discuss her parents. She could still see her eyes from the screen, looking exactly like her father's when he had tried to kill her.

"Do you think she's proud of you?" Caesar asked.

"Of course." Willow replied. "But I don't care what my father thinks."

Caesar laughed. "I wouldn't think you would, would you?"

He asked a few more questions and then stood up with Willow to present her to the Capitol once more. The audience was on their feet once again, cheering hysterical for a now toned down Willow. The Victor Coronation was next, with President Snow walking on stage with an escort of five Peacekeepers and an Avox boy carrying a golden crown on a pillow. Caesar stepped to the side, bowing respectfully to the President who stood a flight above Willow and him. The crowd cheered for their President, silence though when he raised a hand.

"Today, we celebrate another Victor in our nation's sacred tradition, the Hunger Games!" President Snow announced, his voice booming across the audience chamber. "Willow Bark of District 7, step forward!"

Willow did so, stepping up several stairs to stand just below Snow. She bowed her head as the President raised the golden crown above her head, looking out to the audience once more.

"For your success in the Hunger Games, I present to you this crown of gold, a symbol of your strength, wealth, and glory." Snow said. "Wear it well, and know that now and forever your nation is grateful to you and reveres your Victor status."

The crown was heavy, though Willow could still easily support it. All of the crowns were golden, but each District had a specific design for their crown. For District 7, their golden crown had trees sculpted into it with bright emeralds on the golden branches that rose above the crest of the crown.

"All hail Victor Willow Bark of District 7, Victor of the 76th Hunger Games!" President Snow proclaimed.

Once more, the audience erupted into cheers as Willow turned to face them, a bright smile on her face. She waved enthusiastically to them, once more accepting their praise and adding it to her own strength. The cameras were panned in on her and President for a while, but eventually they drifted away to capture the crowd. Once they did so, Snow leaned into Willow and whispered softly into her ear.

"Your father would be proud of you." he whispered calmly.

Willow spun around to confront the President but he was already walking away with a group of golden clad Peacekeepers. Willow was escorted off the stage to the Victory banquet, her final event in the Capitol. She absently shook hands, refusing to say 'thank you' as she had won the Games and not them, and stood for pictures with random Capitolites she hoped never to see again. She didn't even get a chance to eat at her own banquet.

Eventually, she was escorted to the train station and was whisked away back to District 7.

* * *

**District 7**

As soon as Willow stepped off the train in District 7, cheering once more rocked the entire world.

It seemed as if the entire District had come out to welcome Willow home, everyone ecstatic to have a new Victor and the benefits it brought their District. Willow could tell that the Capitol had already sent supplies to her District, as everyone seemed to be cleaner and better feed than before. Willow looked over the adoring crowd and waved to them, basking in their goodwill.

The mayor and his family were the first to greet her, each of them looking to get in on Willow's popularity. The mayor gave her a firm handshake before posing for the cameras with her; obviously dreaming about the fame this would bring him in the Capitol. The next to congratulate her was the Head Peacekeeper, who gave her a nod and a ceremonial salute. Willow could tell that this man hated her, but she couldn't care less. She was quite enjoying the discomfort she was causing him.

An armed contingent of Peacekeepers came storming through the crowd, followed by a parade stage. Willow was escorted onto it and carried through the District. Hordes of people lined up to congratulate her, throwing flowers and ribbons at her in celebratory hype. Willow accepted it all with grace, enjoying the love her District showered on her. The love and thankfulness that made them forget Willow was insane.

The parade ended at the Justice Building, right back where Willow's journey through the Games began. She was escorted inside, leaving behind the adoring fans of the common crowd and greeted by the elite of District 7. Large business owners and political players were awaiting her, each of them wanting to shake her hand and get a picture with her to increase their credentials in the Capitol's eyes. Eventually, Willow grew tired of this and walked off by herself. She came across a TV set and watched the Capitol News as it continued to discuss the Hunger Games. The camera was panning over the crowds in District 7, showing Willow waving to them happily. The Capitol absolutely loved her.

Several hours later it was time for the feast, a tradition for all Districts when a Victor returns home. Long tables had been arranged in the massive courtyard in front of the justice building with place sets aligned neatly in rows. Willow sat above it all on the steps to the Justice Building, with the mayor and his family to her left and her escort and the Head Peacekeeper to her right. Willow's family would have surrounded her normally, but since she had none the absent spots were filled by close friends of the Mayor's family. She didn't pay them much attention however, and sat in her dark green dress with leaves stitched into it in silence.

The feast began close to sunset with hordes of Avoxs appearing to give food to the people. Obviously not everyone in the District was in attendance of this feast; the Capitol had set up other areas where other District citizens enjoyed the benefits of a Victor. The first course of meals was brought out quickly, followed by entertainment. Male and female dancers, their bodies sculpted perfectly, preformed elaborate routines for the audience as they ate. At one point, one of the male dancers actually blew fire out of his mouth. After a few minutes, they were dismissed and the audience enjoyed their meal in peace.

The mayor continued to try and make conversation with Willow, wanting to look friendly with the Capitol's new Victor. Willow understood this very quickly and enjoyed making the mayor look nervous when she appeared unreceptive to his words. It was a show in of itself and Willow enjoyed making the man squirm. It was the only form of entertainment Willow was getting, everything else rather boring to her. The dancer came out once again and began preforming as the banquet attendees were served their main courses. Willow picked at hers in annoyance, wanting to leave soon. She couldn't appreciate the dancers complex routines, finding them rather dull and pointless.

Once the main course was complete, Willow was bored out of her mind. She was tired of smiling for the cameras, tired of acting like friends with people she couldn't give two shits about if she tried, and tired of being celebrated. Unfortunately, she wasn't going to be allowed any time for respite as her escort lead her to the bottom of the steps to an elaborate throne for her final event of the night. Meeting the people of District 7 and receiving their thanks.

For what felt like days, Willow sat in an uncomfortable wooden throne and listened as citizens offered their praise to her on her victory. Willow hardly cared for her 'manners' anymore and most of the people who came to see her were dismissed rudely.

Except for one man.

"Congratulations, Willow."

Willow looked at the man in front of her, confused. Everyone had addressed her as 'Victor Bark' since her victory, hearing her first name just sounded weird as of now. "Thank you." Willow said with curiosity. "I applaud you on your bravery to call me Willow."

The man laughed, his old frame shaking with every chuckle. He looked to be almost seventy, a rare feat for a District citizen. His hair was combed back and eyes pale from aging, while his thin fingers wrapped around his wooden cane, his lifeline for support. Yet there was a confidence in his paling eyes and... pride? Willow wasn't sure what other emotion he was trying to portray as she and seen it so rarely in her life.

"I can tell you don't remember me." the old man said, his voice kind and soft. "After all, you were only five the last I saw you."

That's when Willow remembered who he was. "Mr. Apricot!" Willow exclaimed, standing up off of her throne in shock. She was at a loss for what to say next, emotion overwhelming her.

"You've grown so much, my dear." Mr. Apricot said, smiling like a proud grandfather. "I remember when you were only a foot or two in height with your hair done in those two braids."

Willow was looking at Mr. Apricot in shock, eyes wide and mouth agape.

"I'm so sorry for what you had to suffer through." Mr. Apricot continued. "I wish I could give you old age wisdom to help, but I'm afraid life hasn't been kind enough to turn me into a philosopher. All I can say instead is that you seem to have done well for yourself."

Mr. Apricot was being kind and supportive, but Willow wasn't able to focus on that. Her mind was a run with horrible memories of when he saved her, how her entire world had collapsed after that. She couldn't deal with those emotions and reacted the only way she knew how too. Violently.

"Get out of here!" She hissed at the old man.

Mr. Apricot looked at her with his thin eyebrows raised, though he quickly realized the distress he had caused Willow. "I'm sorry, my dear. I should have known better." Mr. Apricot said. "Congratulations once more though."

As he turned to leave, Willow felt a sudden impulse overtake her. "Wait!" she cried out, standing up off her throne and walking up to him. Mr. Apricot turned to Willow with a kind smile.

"Yes, my dear?" he asked.

"D-do I remind you of my father?" Willow asked.

Mr. Apricot's expression hardened and he turned fully to face Willow, laying a shaky hand on Willow's young shoulder. "Do you want the truth?" he asked, tone serious.

Willow's chest tightened with anticipation. Did she?

"Yes, I do want the truth." Willow answered. Her tone was not threatening in any manner, in fact it sounded like a young child, fearful for the future without her parents by her side. Mr. Apricot leaned into Willow, whispering into her ear his answer.

"You do." he answered. "But you can be better than him."

Mr. Apricot leaned back, expecting Willow to lash out at him or tell the Peacekeepers to arrest him. But she did neither of those things, instead muttering a 'thanks' and then walking back to her throne. She watched Mr. Apricot disappear into the crowd, weighing his words in her mind.

The line of well wishers eventually ended and most of the people had left the feast, eager to party elsewhere. Willow was only to happy to leave for her new home in Victor Village, escorted by a group of six heavily armed Peacekeepers. The Peacekeeper had prepared a beautiful car to ferry her to Victor Village, but Willow surprised everyone by saying she preferred to walk through the city instead.

"Victor Bark, I have to advise against it." the Head Peacekeeper told her. "Security reasons aside, it's almost an hour and a half away by walking."

"I know, but I'd prefer to walk." Willow replied.

The Head Peacekeeper sighed bitterly, knowing that he wasn't going to win this fight. He couldn't persuade Willow to get in the car, nor could he force her into the car, not with this many cameras around. Instead, he told the driver to leave and ordered another four Peacekeepers to travel with Willow to the Victor Village. Willow didn't feel any sort of joy though in commanding the Head Peacekeeper, nor any desire to get back at them for almost beating her to death. Her mind was wrapped around two things at the moment, her father and Mr. Apricot's words.

Willow and her Peacekeeper guard walked through District 7's city in silence. The city was a good size, but not overbearing like the urban hives found in Districts 3 and 5. The tallest buildings they had were only five stories at the most, which were either apartment buildings or business hubs that processed Capitol log orders with their armies of typists and accountants. The streets themselves were wide and paved, the Capitol already undertaking projects to fix potholes and cracks. A victory in the Games did more than just bring supplies; the Capitol would actually repair the District and clean it up, improving the quality of life on all fronts.

Willow walked over the new paved road lost in her own thoughts. Citizens of District 7 walked past, cheering their support for their victor. Most of them were drunk however and Willow felt like beating each and everyone one of them to a pulp. _'What is happening to me?'_ Willow thought. _'I should be happy! I just won the fucking Hunger Games!'_

_'Why can't I stop thinking of my father?'_

_'Because I won like him.'_

_'Won by killing? That's the fucking point of the Hunger Games.'_

_'I killed... I killed brutally...'_

Willow stopped in her tracks. "I want to go somewhere first."

Willow gave the Peacekeepers her destination, making them refuse on the spot.

"Nobody's going to attack their Victor." Willow said. "The only person's safety who is compromised is yours. People don't like Peacekeepers, right? Don't worry, I can go by myself if you big, bad men are scared of a few citizens."

The Peacekeepers followed Willow without complaint after that. She led them through the city, past drunken revelers, and into the slums of District 7. '_Or at least, the really slummy part of the slums.'_ Willow thought. Once they arrived at their destination, Willow was hit with extreme nostalgia when she saw the house.

The house her family used to live in.

It had decayed even more since Willow had lived there almost ten years. Red tape covered it, condemning the house, along with yellow tape, showing it to be a crime scene. Willow stepped forward and looked the house over, trying to work up the nerve to enter it. She couldn't though as waves of memories overran her thoughts as she saw only ghosts of her past. Happy memories with her mother, even happy memories with her father, came to the front of her mind. They were bitter though, making her feel cold instead of warm. Part of her longed for that childhood innocence, an innocence ripped from her by her own father and the work camp, both of which drove her to insanity.

Or did they? Was she actually always insane? Was she destined to be just like her father?

No...

No... she refused to believe that.

Out of the corner of her eye, Willow noticed a group of children watching her. She turned to look at them, making them all gasp and stand petrified. Willow began walking towards them and the spell wore off as all the children dispersed into the shadows, except for one brave boy. He looked scared, but still stood his ground as Willow walked up to him.

She looked down at him, smile on her face. "Hello." she said.

The boy smiled as best he could, his mouth missing a few teeth. "H-hi." he replied, scratching at his dirty clothing. He was far from 'cute' though, not at all that ridiculous image of the cute street rat that people seemed to always have. He was truly improvised with his body covered in dirt, loose fitting shirt cut up and showing his ribs, shoeless feet blistered and bleeding. Every aspect of him screamed poor and imminent starvation.

"I use to live there." Willow said, pointing to the house.

The boy nodded. "I know. People say it's haunted."

"Do they?"

"It's bad news." he said, voice shaky.

"I agree with that." Willow said. "Do you have a family?"

The boy's brow knotted, his chapped lips pursing together. "Do I look like I got one?" he asked angrily.

Willow shook her head. "Off to the work camp for you I suppose."

"Not if they can't catch me!" The boy shouted.

Willow smiled at the boy. "They will. They always do."

That sufficiently scared the boy enough to make him run off. Willow watched him running away, imagining him dying after one day in the work camp. Him an all those other children who ran off were orphans not doubt, probably losing them to drugs, murder, or sickness. They were just coasting, waiting until the day they were picked up and ferried off to the work camp were they would become bitter and either die or turn into monsters.

Just like her.

Suddenly, an idea popped into Willow's mind. It was an odd one coming from her, but it made her feel good thinking about it. Plus, it would piss the hell out of the Peacekeepers and serve as an excellent revenge scheme.

But for now, she was ready to enjoy the benefits of being Victor. "Take me to Victor Village now." Willow commanded.

The Peacekeepers were only all too willing to do so, leading Willow from the slums in an organized protective formation. As they walked, Willow thought over her plan, comforted by the thought that her mother would think highly of what she was doing. Mr. Apricot said that she could be better than her father and her mother had often said that she had to be better than the other. Had to be a force of good for the world.

Just maybe, Willow could find the good in this fucked up world. A good that she would deliver.

* * *

**_A/N 1 : Have you ever stood in front of a crowd as they cheered for you? It's one of the most amazing feeling you can experience. Happened to me several times after acting for plays and let me tell you, it feels amazing. One of my friends leaned over to me and was like 'we could lead this mob in a revolution if we wanted too' and I completely agreed with him._**

**_A/N 2 : Yes, that part where Snow puts the crown on the Victor's head is known as the Victor's Coronation. It's not mentioned on the wiki site but is mentioned in the books._**

**_A/N 3 : In _****Catching Fire_, Katniss states that District 7 has five Victors for their Reaping: four males and one female. One of those is Blight and obviously the only female is Johanna. Since both died in this universe, Willow is now the only female Victor from District 7. I like to think Willow would have done quite well in the 3rd Quarter Quell, but that's just me :). Ugh... I feel bad about killing Johanna in this universe because I love her character so much! My favorite line of hers, said to Katniss, is "I don't care if you're knocked up. I'll rip your throat out anyways." Simply love her._**

**_A/N 4 : The person who plagiarized my story took it down! YEAH!_**

**Tribute Ranking for the 76th Games:**

**1. Willow Bark (D7) - Victor of the 76th Hunger Games [Tributes Killed: 6]**

**2. Anastasia Louivere (D9) - Killed by Willow Bark (D7), Arrow through throat/throat slashed [Day 10, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**3. Raven Keller (D9) - Killed by Willow Bark (D7), Decapitation by axe [Day 10, Tributes Killed: 2]**

**4. Isabella West (D4) - Killed by Willow Bark (D7), Evisceration with axe [Day 9, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**5. Nicolae Viscorian (D2) - Killed by Raven Keller (D9), Knife wounds and bled out [Day 9, Tributes Killed: 4]**

**6. Auron Metzger (D1) - Killed by Valkyrie, Jugular slashed/bled out [Day 9, Tributes Killed: 2]**

**7. Caspian de Burgh (D4) - Killed by Nicolae Viscorian (D2), Trident through skull [Day 8, Tributes Killed: 2]**

**8. Jonathan Kale (D6) - Killed by Caspian de Burgh (D4), Neck snapped [Day 7, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**9. Daira Brites (D5) - Killed by Mutt, Infection from wounds sustained [Day 7, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**10. Ivy Sparks (D3) - Killed by Mutt, Drowning [Day 6, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**11. Willabeana White (D10) - Killed by Auron Metzger (D1), Head bashed in with shield [Day 4, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**12. Kaden Fenton (D10) - Killed by Willow Bark (D7), Axe blow to the skull [Day 4, Tributes Killed: 2]**

**13. Choux Crumplefoot (D8) - Killed by Auron Metzger (D1), Sword through the heart [Day 3, Tributes Killed: 1]**

**14. Tianora Athodille (D11) - Killed by Kaden Fenton (D10), Windpipe broken [Day 3, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**15. Axel Coaler (D12) - Killed by Willow Bark (D7), Axe through lung/suffocation on blood [Day 2, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**16. Demi Nico (D12) - Killed by Caspian de Burgh (D4), Spear through heart [Day 1, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**17. Damian Hoult (D11) - Killed by Raven Keller (D9), Mace blows to skull [Day 1, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**18. Wren Makari (D3) - Killed by Nicolae Viscorian (D2), Sword slash across the face [Day 1, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**19. Cyra Mystral (D2) - Killed by Kaden Fenton (D10), Sword slash across chest [Day 1, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**20. Delvin Winters (D5) - Killed by Nicolae Viscorian (D2), Sword through heart [Day 1, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**21. Charm Acelynn (D1) - Killed by Willow Bark (D7), Axe blow to neck [Day 1, Tributes Killed: 1]**

**22. Azzura Blue (D6) - Killed by Charm Acelynn (D1), Throat slashed by knife [Day 1, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**23. Danielle Dashwillow (D8) - Killed by Choux Crumplefoot (D8), Dagger in stomach/internal bleeding [Day 1, Tributes Killed: 0]**

**24. Joshua Awerdee (D7) - Killed by Nicolae Viscorian (D2), Skull bashed in [Day 1,Tributes Killed: 0]**

**Eulogies:**

**Raven - A tribute that I'm constantly going back and forth on my feelings for. I think it's mainly because he's the type of person I wouldn't like. Character wise for this story he was great though. He was very much a person of his environment, cynical and manipulative like all of Panem's leaders are. He really understood what Panem is and was unmerciful in his contempt for people he deemed too stupid to try and do anything to change it. Still, Raven had emotions and a family that loved him. And in the end he showed he had a heart, kind of like the Grinch. Though instead of acceptance, Raven got his head chopped off.**

**Anastasia - The very innocence that the Capitol hopes to corrupt during the Games, Anastasia made it far thanks to generous people who represented the good in humanity. However, she wasn't meant to win. Can you believe that she was originally sent to me as a Bloodbath tribute and I decided 'nah'? She worked really well with the tributes and helped me humanize them a lot more, but she wouldn't have made for a good Victor. If she did win it would have only been the usually story of 'I went into the Games and came out a changed person'. That isn't a bad story line, in fact it's the most realistic for _all_ Victors, but it's not the one I wanted to take for my first Hunger Games.**

**Willow - Congratulations to Willow Bark, 76th Victor of the Hunger Games! Honestly, what can I say about her? Well... a lot... but I'll go with I really liked her character. She was batshit insane, 100%, but at the same time she had a story and layers to her character that didn't appear at first. It also makes you wonder, was she destined to be crazy? Did she inherit bad genes from her father like her mother feared? Or did seeing her mother killed before she was shipped off to a brutal work camp turn her into this person? It's for you, the readers, to decide.**

**_There you have it guys! The 76th Games! We're not done yet though, we still have three Victory Tour chapters and an epilogue. The Victory Tour will be split like so:_**

**_Districts 12 to 9_**

**_Districts 8 & 6 to 4_**

**_Districts 3 to 1 & Capitol_**

**_Basically we're just meeting up with characters that were important to the fallen tributes and seeing what impact the tributes had on them and their District. I know a lot of SYOT's don't do this, but I'd like to since it gives the people who submitted some closure and last looks at their tributes close ones. Besides, even if it's not my tribute, I'm always curious as to what happens to the families/friends after the tribute dies. The tributes loved ones don't just disappear, they still have to live the rest of their lives._**

**_Off that note, how about some fun? Because I love hearing from you guys, here are some questions I'd love for you guys to answer if you can!_**

1. Who were your top five tributes?

2. Favorite moment of the Games?

3. Saddest moment of the Games?

4. Least favorite moment of the Games? (ex. Area of story that could have been improved, expanded on more than it was, or wasn't necessary)

5. What was your favorite team relationship (ex. Isabella and Ivy, Careers, Raven and Anastasia, etc.)

6. Thoughts on mutts?

7. Thoughts on the Capitol based Chapters?

8. Most violent death?


	3. The Victory Tour - Plague of Misfortune

**_To answer a reviews about Snow's words to Willow, I'm sorry to say that there really isn't much context to them. No, in my head Willow's father is very much dead. Maybe I'll bring him back but for now I'm not planning on it. I've just always imagined Snow saying something snide or disparaging to the Victors after he gives them their crown, to either knock them off their high horse or to remind them that they are under his thumb still. I got the idea from Roman Republic era history during their events known as 'Roman Triumph' or_**** 'Roma Triumphus'_. The Roman Triumph was a citywide parade that would honor a Roman general returning from war with new lands, wealth, and slaves for the Republic. The general would be at the center of this parade with his troops, riding on horseback while the citizens of Rome rained praise down upon him for his victories. Next to the General was a Senate assigned slave_, _who whispered into the general's ear_ 'Memento Mori'.**

**_"Remember you are mortal."_**

**_This was done so the general wouldn't get the idea that he's better than the state and attempt to overthrow it and thus the Senate. Obviously, Julius Caesar is such an example of what the Roman Senate hoped to prevent. The practice was stopped once the Empire was formed since the Emperor realized, unlike the Senate, that glorifying military leaders isn't always the best strategy for remaining in power._**

**_Sorry, haha, I love making the connections to Roman history with the Hunger Games because it fits so perfectly and Suzanne Collins was great in thinking about it like that. The entire Victory celebration for the Hunger Games Victor is essentially a Roman Triumph, except most Victor's are too broken to be much of challenge to the Capitol's rule. See? This is why you read FanFiction, for fun historical lessons!_**

**_Anyways, enjoy the first Victory tour chapter! I don't think I need to remind you guys that this Panem and that means happy endings are few. You have been warned (FOR ALL VICTORY TOUR CHAPTERS!). Also, I should tell you that all Victory Tour Chapters will be about this long. What? There's a lot to be said!_**

**_WARNING: Violence, language, sexually exploitation ahead_**

* * *

**Chapter 46 The Victory Tour - The Plague of Misfortune**

**District 12**

Most Districts didn't have proper graveyard.

Too many people died for there to be any of those, nor did the Capitol think the District citizens were worth effort to maintain a graveyard. Most of the time, especially in the outlier districts, there would be Capitol trucks that would come around at the end of the month and pick up the dead from the District's large morgue underneath the Justice Building. Workers would load the bodies into the trucks and drive off with them to a remote location, far away from civilization, and dump the bodies into a mass grave, which would be bulldozed over once filled. The bodies would be forgotten like they were garbage, just like the Capitol liked. Richer citizens were able to bury their dead their own way, though they needed special permission from the District government and thus the Capitol.

This was not the case for tributes of the Hunger Games however. The Capitol liked for Districts to remember those children that had died.

When a tribute dies in the Games, a hovercraft flies over and removes the body from the arena. At the same time, Peacekeepers in that tribute's District are dispatched to the tribute's closest kin and deliver an envelope to those kin. The envelope is golden with the Capitol seal stamped onto the front. Inside, a note written in fancy calligraphy that most citizens couldn't read was found. The Peacekeepers would then have to deliver the message orally.

"You're child has perished in the Hunger Games. They have fought bravely in their District's name and died in glory. The nation of Panem thanks your child and you for their bravery and service to the glory of Panem."

After the letter was delivered, and after the Games were completed, the coffins arrived. They were moderate looking coffins, neither extravagant nor poor in condition. On the front of them was marked the tribute's District underneath the first name of the tribute and first letter of their last. District 12's tributes arrived shortly after the end of the Games, their coffins delivered to the Justice Building into the care of Mayor Undersee. Peacekeepers went out to retrieve the tribute's remaining family members for the funeral procession. Only Demi's family came, all five of them. Axel had no family and would be buried without anybody to mourn him. If the bodies of the tributes were in good condition, in other words still recognizable, the coffins would be open for the families to say goodbye.

Demi's family looked at their fallen member with tears in their eyes. The Capitol had the decency to clean their daughter up before putting her in a coffin. Demi was covered with makeup and embalming fluid while dressed in a long black gown that covered all her skin except her head. The killing blow had been stitched up as well, hidden underneath Demi's dark dress. Axel had been done up the same way, his gown just as covering as Demi's.

Ten minutes were allowed for farewells before the coffins were carried to the Tribute Graveyard. The Graveyard was a short distance outside of the city, though still within the confines of the electric fence that made the border of District 12. An honor guard of Peacekeepers carried them through the ruined streets of District 12 as inhabitants along the way looked at the coffins with pity. Demi's family followed behind their daughter's coffin in silence, wiping away the tears that refused to stop flowing.

Upon arriving at the Tribute Graveyard, another honor guard took over and led the coffins to their respective gravesites. The tributes would be buried next to each other, their gravestones engraved with basic information about the tribute along with the insignia of their District above it.

**DEMI NICO, AGE 15**

**TRIBUTE OF THE 76TH HUNGER GAMES**

**DEATH BY SPEAR, PLACED 16th**

Surrounding Demi's grave were the graves of every other tribute of District 12. A tribute that became Victor did not have a gravestone, but instead a bust of them placed where their gravestone would have been. District 12 only had two busts to show for seventy-six years, a long forgotten Victor from one of the first Games and the bust of Haymitch Abernathy. Both were dead though and buried by their buts. Haymitch had an honorary gravestone for his participation in the 75th Games, right next to Katniss's and Peeta's graves.

Once the coffins were lowered in, the Head Peacekeeper and Mayor gave short eulogies, talking about the bravery of the tributes and the honor they had brought their District and Panem. A few trumpet blasts, some honorary dirt flung onto the coffins, and the ceremony was over. The Nico family was left alone with servants who began burying the coffins. The family remained there until nightfall, laying down flowers for Demi before leaving.

Deana Nico awoke to the memory of that day, lying in her bed with her husband and their three remaining children. They lived in a small shack without room for the luxury of multiple beds. Their bedroom was their living room and kitchen, their bathroom outside in a communal lavatory that could make someone unable to smell if they didn't have the right preparation.

Softly, Deana began to wake the other members of her family. "We have to get up." she told them. "We need to be at the Justice Building soon."

Deana's husband, Sarcouse, was the first up, followed by their children from youngest to oldest; May, Sissi, and Jameson. All three of them were under the age of ten, all marks of a midlife crisis on the part of Deana and Sarcouse. Demi was an angel, but they held a strong desire for more children, despite the harsh nature of upbringing. Children always made life more bearable to the Nico's. The fact that they could collect tesserae was only a bonus.

The family got dressed without shame, the boys on one side and the girls on the other side of the house. Once dressed, the Nico's departed their house without food. They were low on money at the moment and needed to ration what they had left. Deana had found it was better to eat at night so she didn't have to go to sleep hungry, a lesson she imparted onto her children.

The Nico family walked through the tattered streets of District 12 with their hands connected. While the Seam was considered the poorest area of the District, there was an even poorer area known as the Under Seam. This was where the Nico's scraped by at life, along with the rest of the filth of District 12. Vagrants, thieves, whores, and all the rest made their living in such an area. Along the way to the Justice building, the Nico's came across toothless Cass, an elderly prostitute who offered fellatio to men at a cheap price.

"No teeth only makes it better." she slurred at prospective customers. Apparently her pitch worked as she had been at it for years.

Eventually, the family made it to the Justice Building. Along the way, they had passed the starving masses of District 12, their fellow citizens that were as broken and distraught as the Nico's. Head Peacekeeper Romulus Thread has been unmerciful in his persecution of any rebel factions in District 12. He had dragged perspective rebels from their homes to be killed publicly, burned the Hob to the ground, conducted whippings daily for small infractions, and was a general menace to all. He had beaten down the rebels with fear and kept them under his foot without mercy.

Inside the Justice Building, Mayor Undersee and his pregnant wife greeted the Nico's. The mayor's wife had gotten pregnant before the Capitol had dragged off Madge, but there were still rumors that they were only trying to replace Madge. There was even a nasty rumor that the Capitol would Reap their future child as consequence of their daughter's rebellious thoughts. Why else would the Undersee's still be in power? It didn't make sense for the Capitol to keep people with rebel ties still in power otherwise.

"Again, my wife and I are so sorry for your loss." Mayor Undersee told the Nico family.

Deana nodded, speaking on behalf of her distraught family. "Were you able to find someone to represent Axel?" she asked.

Mayor Undersee shook his head sadly. "According to the registration files, he has parents, though we haven't been able to locate them. Apparently he had an older brother who perished in a mining accident a few years ago."

Nothing more was said after that. Nobody could think of anything to say.

Within a few minutes, the Victory Tour was ready to begin. Willow was waiting in a back room while the Mayor led the tribute representatives onto the stage, accompanied by armed Peacekeepers in ceremonial garb. Deana looked over the crowd that had been forcibly assembled to congratulate the Games Victor, their sadness and desperation not lost on her.

"Good afternoon, citizen of District 12, and welcome to the 76th Victor Tour." Mayor Undersee said, with as much enthusiasm as he could muster for the press that had accompanied Willow on her Tour. He made a few more comments about the importance of the Games, how they reaffirmed the Capitol's strength and right to rule while honoring the District's strong children, the usual rhetoric. Deana and her family remained stony faced for as long as they could, but the tears quickly began falling from her children's eyes when the mayor made mention of Demi in his speech. Deana wrapped a comforting arm around her children, whispering words of false comfort into their ears. Mayor Undersee finished his speech and made the Victor's introduction.

"It is now my honor to present to you, District 12, the Victor of the 76th Hunger Games. Willow Bark of District 7!" he cried out.

The doors to the Justice Building opened and the strong figure of Willow Bark emerged from within, her trademark smile plastered on her face. She was dressed in a long black gown that had streaks of ember coloring throughout. Her blond hair was drawn back in an elaborate ponytail, making her appear classy in comparison to the amount of cleavage the dress showed. The Mayor shook Willow's hand and muttered his congratulations to her, obviously eager to get away from the girl. Willow appeared not to notice though as she returned the handshake in a friendly manner before stepping up to the podium.

"How are you guys doing today?" she asked the District.

Vacant eyes stared back at her as nobody responded. While Axel wasn't exactly loved by anyone, or for that matter _known_ by anyone, he was from their District and Willow had still killed him, making her worthy of their hatred. It was a matter of principle for people, even though they could not publicly express it. Thread's eyes were beating down upon them from his place on the stage, along with the guns of the Peacekeeper's surrounding the area.

Willow wasn't deterred by the crowd's lack of enthusiasm and began reading her teleprompter speech for the District and cameras. She spoke with a mix of insane happiness and slight annoyance at the boring speech prepared for her. Deana listened half-heartedly, her mind set on comforting her grieving children and keeping memories of Demi away from her mind. She knew if she started thinking about her daughter then she too would descend into tears.

_'Why can't this all end?'_ She screamed internally. _'Why do they have to do this?'_

Deana knew though, knew that nobody cared about this District. It had gone to shit in the past few years, after Katniss Everdeen had died so close to victory. Since then they had slipped back into the shadows for Panem, though they kept the Peacekeepers busy with their rebellious nature. Still, it's not like anyone cared for their lost tributes. Everybody forgot about her daughter once she was dead. Sure she might not be as interesting and exciting as the Games psycho Victor Willow, as complicated as Nicolae, or as brave and selfless as Willabeana, but she had been human! Demi had been her daughter, her flesh and blood! She belonged to a family that loved her and grieved everyday for their loss!

But nobody cared.

Because that was Panem, one giant nation of uncaring people. The rebels wouldn't win because there was no way they could motivate enough people, even if it meant the possibility of escaping their miserable lives.

Deana than began to weep on stage, the meaningless nature of life finally overwhelming her. Her crying began so harsh that Willow stopped her speech to look at Demi's mother. Willow showed no sympathy though, just like the rest of Panem, and continued her speech.

* * *

**District 11**

Cameron Hoult awoke alone in his dingy District 11 apartment, the smell of stale urine and rotting food all to prevalent. Apartment might be too generous a word as well, as the small area barely allowed for easy movement for a person, even for someone with his skinny figure. He threw off the single bed sheet and moved off his mattress nude. Without proper air conditioning, it was far too hot to sleep with any clothing on in District 11.

A benefit he had lost with his brother, Damian.

Cameron sighed, feelings of guilt overrunning him again. Today was the day of the Victory Tour, where Cameron would have to stand up on stage in front of his District and represent his brother. It was a task he wasn't too keen on preforming since it would draw attention to him and thus his connection to his now infamous brother. After Damian had his skull bashed in on national television, all of his previous… clients had felt it ok to begin telling others what Damian had done for them in the bedroom.

Putting on his best clothing, Cameron reluctantly thought back to his brother, someone he had been trying to put out of his mind since he found out the truth. If the Capitol wasn't forcing him, Cameron probably wouldn't even have stepped on stage in front of the entire nation to represent his brother. He was violently ashamed of his brother's actions and enraged by his choices. Prostitution? That was really the best thing that Damian could have thought of to keep them well off after their parents had died. Cameron worked in the fields like any child in District 11 and Damian could have gotten a job in town, people know him well enough to offer him one. But no, he dropped his pants for some Capitolite and couldn't stop himself after that.

Cameron remembered asking Damian how he managed to keep them in a nicer house while their income was so low, and eventually he wore his older brother down enough that he confessed. Cameron wished he hadn't, he didn't want to imagine his brother pleasuring wealthy women, and worse wealthy _men_, just so they could survive. Whoring oneself out was considered the worst thing a person could do in District 11, short of supporting the Capitol that is.

Cameron had been so upset with his brother that he hadn't even wished him luck in the Games. He left that to Damian's clients.

Dressed fully, Cameron left his shitty apartment and walked downstairs. He was forced to move there after Damian had died in the Games. Apparently the house they had been living in was being paid for by one of Damian's male clients, who repossessed the house for his new whore after Damian died. Cameron had fought him tooth and nail to let him stay, but short of selling himself to the man, Damian's client wanted nothing to do with Cameron.

_'I could always make an exception... you're not half bad looking yourself.' The man said, his hand deviating towards his crotch. 'Why don't you get down on your knees and prove you're worthy to stay here.'_

Cameron had promptly kneed the man said crotch and stormed out of the house.

The next few months had been tough, but Cameron had managed to pull through in the end. He turned sixteen with little fanfare with only a stolen piece of bread as a treat. He celebrated by himself in an alleyway where some whore was going down on a guy and two other men were dumping a body. Nobody offered him any comfort and praise on surviving another year; everybody had their own problems to deal with.

He finally caught a break a month ago when he landed himself his apartment. His job in the fields managed to pay for it, though it left him flat broke afterwards. Cameron had become quite good with stealing though so he managed to get by, if only barely. Most nights he couldn't sleep, not because of his uncomfortable mattress but because of the painful hunger.

Cameron was surprised to find a group of Peacekeepers in the lobby of the complex, obviously waiting for him. Without a word, Cameron allowed himself to be lead by the helmeted men through the District to the Justice Building where the Victory Tour would be held. On their way to it, Cameron passed many people who stared at him in silence, knowing exactly who he was. Cameron didn't bother to try and figure out what they were thinking, he knew that their pity was limited and unhelpful in the long run anyways. They would feel bad for him for a day and afterwards go on with their lives without giving him a second thought.

Because that's the way the world worked.

The world that Damian had left him in. All alone.

If someone asked him how he dealt with being the last member of his family alive, Cameron wouldn't have been able to respond. He didn't deal with it... he just kept going. The more he thought about things, the more he realized how pathetic he was. He would end up dead soon enough, he knew that already. The mere fact that he had survived on his own for six months without starving was a miracle, and if there was one thing Cameron had learned from life it was that miracles wee always followed by disaster. It was a miracle that Damian had managed to keep them afloat after their parents had died, but it was a disaster when he revealed how he did.

_'He revealed it and didn't even have the decency to survive.'_ Cameron thought bitterly. He had shed a few tears for his brother, but they were mainly tears for the old Damian, the one who hadn't been whoring himself out.

After a twenty minute walk, they arrived at the Justice Building. Cameron was ushered inside and left alone in the main foyer along with the mayor. The mayor of District 11 always looked tired to Cameron, as if he was ready to pass out at any second. Cameron didn't imagine being mayor was easy, especially of District 11, so he was a little lenient on his judgment of the man. He certainly hadn't help make anyone's life easier though. The mayor and his family did the usual 'so sorry for your lose' spiel and eventually left him alone, waiting for Tianora's representative. Cameron didn't know much about Tianora, only that she seemed to have a love/hate relationship with his brother.

Sounded just like him, though she actually seemed distraught when he died.

Eventually the doors to the Justice Building opened and Peacekeepers walked in with Tianora's representative. It was only one person, a woman of middle age who walked slowly and with care. Cameron thought she looked very familiar, though not familiar as in appearance to Tianora. While she shared the same dark skin as Tianora, she lacked similar facial features or traits as the younger girl.

The mayor seemed to have met the woman before and embraced her like a friend. "Thank you for doing this again." He told the women, who nodded in response.

"It's the least I could do, Rue would want this." she responded.

Cameron gasped when he made the connection. _'This is Rue's mother!'_ Cameron thought. _'Tianora was an orphan, but close with Rue's family. She must be the closest thing to family the Capitol could find.'_

Rue's mother walked towards Cameron, a sad smile on her face. "You must be Damian's brother, Cameron right?" she asked.

Cameron nodded his head, extending his hand to shake the woman's hand. "I'm sorry for your loss, ma'am." Cameron said.

"Please call me Heela." she responded.

"Heela, I'm sorry." Cameron corrected.

Heela smiled sadly, looking sadly at Cameron. "I know how you're feeling and all I can say to you is-"

"You don't know how I'm feeling." Cameron responded, cutting Heela off early. "My brother and I weren't exactly friendly when he got shipped off to his death."

"Oh, well I'm sorry to hear that." Heela responded sadly. "Are you doing ok though?"

"I'm fine." Cameron said, finding the entire conversation becoming extremely awkward and disjointed. Cameron bet that Heela felt worse about losing Tianora, who wasn't her daughter, than Cameron did losing Damian.

Heela paused for a moment, obviously trying to say something to encourage Cameron. Finally, she seemed to figure out what that was. "I know how difficult it can be to lose someone you care about. Even if you two weren't on the best terms when he left for the Games, I'm sure that you both love each other dearly."

"He's dead. Stop using present tense." Cameron snapped, turning away from Heela. Couldn't this woman see that he didn't want to talk?

Heela wasn't turned away easily though as she continued talking. "I know that you don't have any remaining family, and I realize how difficult this will become even if you don't realize it now. I just wanted to say that if you ever needed anything, myself and my family are here to support you."

Cameron turned back to Heela in shock. "Are you serious?" he said in a disbelieving tone, almost mockingly. "You're family is huge. You couldn't support me as well."

"We did with Tianora." Heela responded. "She was one of the family."

Cameron's rage only increased with that. He hated this, being lectured by this woman he just met about family and family values. He stared at her dead on, rage in his face, and unleashed his fury on her. "Tianora was one of the family because you took her in to replace Rue!" Cameron shouted. "You couldn't deal with your daughter's death so you replaced her with her best friend! I heard the interview that Tianora gave in the Capitol! How you guys were torn apart by Rue's death and then willingly accepted Tianora afterwards? You took her in so you wouldn't have to deal with loss! Well you're not doing that with me, ok? So fuck off!"

Heela looked at Cameron in shock, eyes beginning to tear up from the truth. Cameron stormed to the opposite side of the foyer, sitting in a puffy chair with his head turned away from Heela.

The ceremony was relatively brief, much to Cameron's happiness. The mayor made some comments, the audience force clapped when Willow came out on stage, and Willow made her remarks. The crowd was actually tame this year and not buzzing with rebellion. Willow hadn't had any interaction with either of the District 11 tributes and she wasn't a Career, so the crowd had no reason to hate her other than she wasn't from the District. She had called Damian a whore several times while in the Games though, but everybody did that. It's what he was.

Willow finished her speech and the crowd began to cheer again as the representatives were brought forward to congratulate Willow. Damian thought she was clothed quite absurdly with her dress dangling fruit off of it and wrapped in her hair. Heela went first, shaking Willow's hand and muttering congratulations. Willow smiled at her, congratulating her on Tianora's death. "It was really cool!" she remarked happily.

Heela's face turned pale and she walked back into the Justice Building, tears streaming down her face. Willow turned to Cameron next, smiling happily at him. "You're whore boy's brother, aren't you?" she asked.

Cameron pursed his lips and nodded his head in agreement. Willow laughed and looked like she was about to say something, but stopped herself. "I was about to make some witty response, but I don't really think your brother is worth it." she said.

"Couldn't agree more." Cameron said.

Willow raised an eyebrow at Cameron. "Good job appreciating your brother." she said.

"Why should I? He was a whore." Cameron said.

"Who got you money and let you live a better life than you are right now. I can smell the poor on you, literally." Willow said, wrinkling her nose in disgust at Cameron's dirty body. "Anyone who thinks a whore likes doing what they do is a fucking moron. Oddly enough, you strike me as the moron type."

"You bitch!" Cameron spat at Willow, not caring if Peacekeepers arrested him for insulting the Victor. "You don't know anything about my life!"

Willow rolled her eyes before talking. "Save it buddy, I really don't need to hear your 'I'm just a poor, misunderstood teenager' bullshit. It's fucking annoying to listen to. I guess I'll see you at the Victory feast though, but if I don't then have a nice life!"

Willow walked off with her escort, leaving Cameron alone on the stage. The Victory feast wouldn't be for several hours so Cameron exited the stage and left the area, heading back to his apartment in a fuss. Who the hell did she think she was? Just because she was Victor didn't mean that she knew everything! From what it looked like on screen, Willow hadn't been close with Damian or even associated with him. How dare she think she know Cameron and what he was going through!

Cameron, still in a foul mood twenty minutes later, stormed upstairs to his room only to find people waiting outside of it. Two big men surrounded a much smaller one, who turned and flashed Cameron a smile when their eyes met. He was nicely dressed and groomed for someone from District 11. His dark hair was gelled back, light skin spotless, and clothing pampered with care. He had a very nice vest too, his most standout feature which made Cameron think him crazy for wearing the extra layer in District 11's heat.

"Hello!" the well groomed man said with a smile. "Are you Cameron Hoult?"

Cameron narrowed his eyes at the man and his two larger companions. "No." he responded immediately.

"Oh I see." The man said, obviously not believing him. "Well we're just waiting outside his door until he gets back."

Cameron nodded and thought about what to do next. He could just go back downstairs, but something told him these people wouldn't leave until they saw him. He couldn't enter another room either, he didn't have the key to another. He must have waited too long as another man walked up the stairs and boxed Cameron in. "Are you sure you aren't him." The well groomed man asked again.

Cameron looked at the three men, knowing he was trapped. "Fine, I'm him." Cameron responded reluctantly.

"That's better!" the man said with a boisterous laugh. "Well I'm Apollo! Quite the name, right? My mama was real cool like that!"

"Yeah, nice." Cameron responded.

"Have you heard of me before?" Apollo asked. Cameron shook his head, making Apollo frown. "Hmm, that's too bad. I would have thought your brother would have talked about me. We were buddies! Well, as good of buddies as a pimp and his whore can be."

Cameron turned to leave, but another big man stepped out from the shadows and pushed him towards Apollo. Cameron was now in front of his own door, forced there by Apollo and his three henchmen. "My brother didn't have a pimp!" Cameron told at them. That much he knew to be true. Damian had confessed that all his work had been himself and through Lysander Summers, some Capitolite women. Apollo's name had never been mentioned.

"Ok fine, I lied. He wasn't my whore." Apollo admitted. "But I'm a perspective buyer of flesh!"

"Damian isn't around anymore, in case you missed it." Cameron said angrily. "I'm sure you can dig him up from the Tribute Graveyard if you wanted."

Apollo laughed, though his henchmen remained stone faced and silent. "Good one kid, you should be a comedian instead of a field worker. Or I could offer you something better than that."

"I'm not interested." Cameron responded.

"Oh I'm not sure you're aware of what you're passing up." Apollo said ignoring Cameron. "Damian might have done a shit job in the Games, but he was a god outside to some people. So much so, that people are still willing to pay a high price for any piece of him that's still around."

"I'm not my brother." Cameron responded, catching Apollo's drift. "Tell them to find another whore."

"That's cute. You thought I was giving you a choice!" Apollo said. He snapped his fingers and one of the henchmen stepped forward and punched Cameron sharply in the gut. Cameron gasped heavily as he was thrown against the door and while hands searched him for the key to his room. The keys were found easily and the door unlocked, Cameron pushed into his small room where he tripped and fell onto the hard floor, the board creaking from his weight.

"You see, Cameron, I'm in the market for new flesh." Apollo said, bending down to be at Cameron's level. "And tonight is the District's big old festival to honor the courageous and exalted Willow Bark for slaughtering other children! Now, some people like to honor this through toasts and food, while other's like fucking. Well, everybody likes fucking. I know this because I make my living off of such a thing. I also know that there are certain people with a substantial amount of money who would pay to fuck you, Cameron."

"You son of a bitch!" Cameron shouted at him.

"Now there's no reason to get my mother in involved, she was a perfectly nice lady who doesn't need criticism from a whore like you!" Apollo shot back.

"I'm not a whore!" Cameron spat back.

"Yet." Apollo responded eerily, tone shifting to serious. "After tonight, well I'll make a proper whore out of you yet." Apollo planted a kiss on Cameron's cheek and stood back up, pointing to his henchmen. "Now these boys are going to make sure you get to your destination safe and sound and that the man paying to fuck you for the night gets his money's worth. Of course, we realize the difficulties of this being your first time and all, so naturally we brought along some drugs for you to take before hand. Make you more complacent and horny!"

"I'm not doing this!" Cameron shouted, desperation over taking him as he looked at the henchman, moving in on him. "I'm not a whore!"

"Again, key word is yet." Apollo said with a smile, looking at one of the henchmen and jerking his head in Cameron's direction. The henchman moved into the room and began undoing his belt and taking off his clothes. "Now here's the deal Cameron, while most people like virgins, they only like virgin girls. Boys not so much. So I'm going to have one of my guys break you in without the drugs in your system. Trust me, he's a little rough but you'll be begging for more at the end."

Rough hands seized Cameron and forced him onto the bed, tearing off his clothing and turning him on his stomach as his legs were spread. Cameron screamed for help but nobody came, tears welling up in his eyes up the larger man prepared to take full advantage of him. Apollo shut the door and chuckled to himself before turning to his two other henchmen. "Have him dressed and drugged at the location by sunset. Stay with him the night and then afterwards bring him back to the clubhouse. There are quite a few people who want a piece of a Hoult now that the secrets out about Damian."

The henchmen nodded as Apollo walked away, who ignored the screams coming from Cameron's room. Apollo could only hear the sounds of a sixteen year old boy was about to make him a lot of money.

* * *

**District 10**

The sun had not yet risen over District 10 while Angus White and his wife Hilda waited for the District bus to pick them up for transport into District 10's major city.

Husband and wife stood next to each other in silence, standing a fair distance away from each other. The gap might have been interpreted as a growing divide in their marriage, but to them it was more symbolic, representing the gap that would have been occupied by their only child, Willabeana.

"Should be here in a few." Angus said to his wife about the bus.

Hilda nodded her head, wrapping herself in her husband's jacket tighter to keep away the cold of the early morning. District 10 was one of the largest Districts in Panem along with Districts 9 and 11, so it would take them almost three hours to arrive in District 10's only city. There was a local town nearby, but it only held some of the most basic necessities for life and was hardly ever visited by the Whites. Willabeana often went though, always talking about the cute ranching boys that she might one day marry. Angus would roll his eyes at his daughter's silly thoughts of early marriage, but now he would have given anything to hear her once more lament about the unavailability of the cutest boy in town.

The White's had watched the Games at their nearest neighbor's house almost forty minutes away. They sat glued to the television for every moment of the Games, taking turns going back to their ranch to make sure the cows and cats there were getting by. Both parents held each other tightly whenever Willabeana appeared on screen, cheered loudly when her score of six was revealed, and gasped in horror at the very revealing outfit she was forced to wear for her interview. Every moment of the Games had been torture for them as they watched Willabeana struggle to hold together Kaden's fragile alliance and then finally abandon it.

They had watched in stoic silence as Willabeana and Anastasia traversed the swamp, battling mutts and illusions in the fog. Hilda had gone pale when Kaden almost drowned her daughter, but sighed heavily once Anastasia saved her. Her moment of relief was short lived though as Willow appeared, almost ending their daughter's life, who was willingly sacrificing herself for Anastasia.

And then Willabeana did so when the Careers descended on her.

As Auron bashed their daughter's skull in, Angus and Hilda watched in absolute horror, their eyes not leaving the screen for an instant. When her canon sounded and Anastasia cried over the lifeless body of their daughter, both of the White's stood up from their seats and prepared to leave their neighbors house. Nobody knew what to say to the Whites and let them leave without a word to them. The Whites had walked back to their house in the dead of night, the stars shining brightly above them. Neither of them dared look at them, knowing how special they had been to their Willabeana.

They entered their quaint house in silence, both of them unsure how to deal with their emotional distress. Angus turned to his wife and muttered something about checking on the cows since they hadn't been milked that night. Hilda let her husband wander off to the barn as she stood in their living room area in silence. She felt as though some bit of her had been ripped out, but the pain just hadn't quite hit her yet. On the self, there was a family picture of them with Willabeana smiling happily in between her two parents. Hilda rushed to it and threw it onto the ground in a rage, surprised when the crash was louder than she anticipated. There was another crashing sound and Hilda realized it was coming from the barn where her husband was.

Hilda threw upon the front door of their house and rushed to the barn, shocked to see her husband hitting one of their cows. "Angus!" She cried out. "Stop it!"

"This fucking cow won't milk!" Angus shouted angrily, face red. "It won't fucking milk!" I-It won't..."

Angus collapsed onto the ground, crying his eyes out. Hilda ran to her husband's side, wrapping her arms around him, which he reciprocated with his own. Soon they were both crying into each other's arms for their lost daughter.

Neither of them watched the rest of the Games. Every week, the White's had the local grocer come around on his Capitol licensed scooter and deliver them goods, a commodity that they could afford. One week they eventually asked him who had won the Games. The grocer, a young man in his twenties, looked at them awkwardly before responding.

"Willow Bark." He said almost too quietly for both of them to hear. "She's the girl from District-"

He stopped himself when he realized that they probably knew where the girl who had almost killed their daughter was from.

Neither of the Whites reacted, making the grocer feel even more uncomfortable. "What place did Anastasia get?" Hilda asked in a monotone.

Again, the grocer fidgeted awkwardly. "She placed second. She fought hard, but Willow slashed her throat open..." he responded, his voice drifting off when he realized they _also_ didn't need to know the details. Nor did they need to hear his thoughts on how impressive it was for a thirteen year old to make it to second place. Still, it was second place and there was no consolation prize for that in the Hunger Games. Only death.

"She couldn't even win..." Angus muttered, a hint of rage in his voice. They walked back to their ranch in silence after that, putting all their effort into work and not their daughter's memory.

Back in the present, the bus arrived to pick the Whites up. The bus driver looked at the Whites with pity, recognizing their face easily. They stepped onto the bus, holding out money to pay for the ride, though the driver refused it and let them sit where they liked. Several of the people on the bus, family friends of the Whites, moved to allow them to sit near the nicer seats in the front. The White's accepted this gesture with silent thanks.

Many of them also noticed that the attire that they were dressed in was the same that they had worn on their wedding day, the only 'nice' clothing that they owned by Capitol standards.

The ride to the city had been long and awkward, with nobody saying anything. They had stopped once more to pick up a rather large family, but they all had fallen silent when they saw the Whites near the front. Everyone issued condolences and the bus was back on its way. When they arrived in the station later, Peacekeepers were waiting to lead them to the stage. They walked through the city to a pity filled crowd, many of the people bowing their heads respectfully to Angus and Hilda as they walked past.

They entered the Justice building before going on stage. The mayor and her family greeted the White's civilly and offered their condolences as well. "We'll make sure this goes as quickly and smoothly as possible." The mayor told them, her face plain and controlled. This wasn't her first Victory Tour, she had been offering childless parents condolences for quite some time. It was easier for her to be as unemotional as possible, and the Whites respected that. It was the same way they were dealing with their daughter's death.

Across the room was the representative for Kaden, Dr. Franklin from the orphanage. He wasn't Kaden's family, but the Capitol preferred to have a representative of each tribute on stage and Dr. Franklin filled the spot nicely as his legal guardian. As they prepared to go on stage, he was forced next to the White's in preparation.

"I'm so sorry for your loss." he told them with feigned care. "Willabeana seemed like a fine girl."

Hilda refused to look at the quack, but Angus did with angry eyes. "Don't you say a fucking word to us." he told Dr. Franklin. "I would tell you to worry about the children in you orphanage, but it's obvious that you're well beyond that."

Dr. Franklin snorted. "Kaden was a fluke." he responded. "You can't save everyone, I'm afraid."

Angus thought about retorting again, but figured it wasn't worth it. He held his wife's hand instead and gave Dr. Franklin a look of disdain. Dr. Franklin didn't seem to notice however, his mind caught up in an offer which had been placed on his desk earlier that week. Kaden's performance had been noticed by powerful people, people who were willing to pay for mentally unbalanced eighteen year olds. The Head Peacekeeper himself had come to talk to Dr. Franklin, offering him a bonus on messed children to be shipped off and trained as Peacekeepers to keep the outlier Districts in line.

Dr. Franklin could feel the sweet money in his hands at that very moment. It was only too easy to break children, and now he was being paid more to do it! He would give the Peacekeepers their army of insane, yet manageable, psychopaths with glee and money filled pockets.

The mayor signaled it was time for the ceremony to start and the representatives were led out onto stage in front of the cameras and the District, seated on opposite sides of the podium where the mayor and Willow would speak. The mayor made his opening remarks and then introduced Panem's 76th Victor to District 10.

Mandatory clapping was issued by the crowd as Willow Bark stepped out from the Justice building. She was dressed in a long white dress with tactfully placed black smudges throughout it, obviously meant to represent cow prints. She basked in the crowds forced enthusiasm, offering both representatives a smile. Willow began laughing once she realized how much this District hated her. She was basically responsible for both of their tribute's deaths, even though she hadn't officially killed Willabeana. Still, this was her first taste of true hatred as nobody liked Axel enough to morn him long and she hadn't interacted at all with District 11's tributes.

Willow gave her speech to the crowd and was praised for it at the end with fake applause. As the crowd continued its clapping, Willow stepped down from the podium and was greeted by both tribute representatives. Dr. Franklin congratulated her first, shaking her hand firmly and with a forced smile.

Willow smiled at him and pulled him closer to him, "I hear you like making children's lives miserable." She whispered into his ear. "It would be a real shame if someone ended that and you."

Dr. Franklin pulled away, looking at Willow in shock. Willow simply smiled in return, motioning to the guards that had accompanied her from District 7 that were starring daggers at Dr. Franklin. Willow laughed, "It's ok, I'm just fucking with you! Or am I? I'm insane too, doctor. Why don't you do your job and figured me out?"

Dr. Franklin rushed off stage, followed by Willow's personal guard. Willow watched them run off, chuckling to herself before turning to the White's. Both parents looked at the Victor with anger, but offered their forced congratulations.

"Oh save it." Willow responded. "I know you want me to drop dead now."

Hilda bit back a response, knowing that one bad word to Willow's face could get her in trouble with the Peacekeepers.

"If you really want to blame someone, why don't you blame Annie?" Willow offered. "The girl couldn't protect herself and led your precious Willa to her death. For that matter, why not just blame your own daughter for her bad choices."

"We do." Angus replied.

Willow looked surprised. "Well that's a nice change. Parents who actually realize their child fucked up."

Willow's guards returned and escorted her back into the Justice Building, leaving the White's alone. Both of them looked at each other, offering the other support through their thoughts. It was true; they did blame their daughter for her own death. One of the comforts that their friends had tried on them had been saying their daughter died a heroic death, giving her life for another human. Many people loved Willabeana for doing that, and for a while the White's tried to do the same thing.

But it was too hard. They couldn't help but feel rage at their daughter for caring for Anastasia the way she did. They tried to deny their anger at first, but slowly it built up of over the course of six months to the point they could no longer keep it at bay. Why had their daughter sacrificed herself for a girl she met only a week ago? Didn't she even think about her parents, how they needed her? How they wanted her alive and well and not dead and a supposed hero to many?

Anastasia didn't even have the decency to win, didn't have the decency to honor their daughter's foolish death.

The White's walked off the stage with slowly, filled with loathing for their daughter.

A loathing they felt would never subside.

* * *

**District 9**

"GOD WILL PUNISH ALL OF YOU!"

The hysterical man was screaming at the top of his lungs, screaming through the sweat, blood, and tears running down his body. Behind him was a group of Peacekeepers, one of them holding a whip that he repeatedly lashed across the man's back. The other Peacekeepers surrounded them, holding back the crowd of religious folk were screamed damnation for the Capitol.

District 9 had descended into near anarchy following the 76th Games. Fueled by a new religious fever and the loss of both of their tributes so close to the end, the District had fallen into revolt after revolt. Countless citizens had lost their lives or had been imprisoned, but it didn't deter the rebels. They continued to fight on, desperate for the Capitol's demise.

The man screamed once more as the whip tore through his back, his spine exposed to the entire world. He continued his public damnation of the Capitol however, screaming how hell awaited all who stood with the Capitol. "GOD DOES NOT APPROVE! GOD DOES NOT APPROVE!" He screeched, voice cracking from pain.

The crowd screeched with him, shouting prayers out loud to God for the salvation of the martyr being whipped by the Peacekeepers. It wouldn't be long until the crowd tore through the barricade fence and began beating up Peacekeepers. A short distance away from the angry crowd stood Azriel Kellar, who watched the proceedings mystified by the sight. She stayed for a little longer before leaving, not wanting to get caught in the ensuing chaos that was bound too occur any second.

As she walked to the Justice Building, Azriel couldn't help but think what Raven would think of all this. He would be thrilled to see people making a stand against the Capitol, but probably wouldn't be happy that they were doing so because of a religious reason.

_'A lot has changed, Raven.'_ Azriel thought. _'You would be proud of what people here have accomplished.'_

_'Sure, they did it all for some absentee God. How great of them'_ Raven's condescending voice said in her head.

Azriel had been broken for a while after her brother died and shortly afterwards she found that it helped if she pretended Raven could still hear everything she was thinking and was capable of responding. Azriel hoped that didn't make her insane, she knew that Raven couldn't hear her and 'Raven' only replied what she thought he would say. It was really helpful though.

Despite how annoying he could have been, Azriel missed her brother greatly.

A lot had happened since Raven had first left for the Hunger Games six months ago, not all of it good though not all of it was bad. It was, as Raven would say, a mixed bag that was life. Tons of sympathy had been piled onto Azriel and her mother, allowing more people to flock to her mother and learn her new message about God and the power of the soul. What had started as a small meeting of about thirty people had turned into almost three hundred people by the time the Games began. As Raven continued to survive, people continued to listen to his mother about God, spreading the message to others in the District, encouraging them to come listen to Raven's mother preach.

And then Anastasia got in on it as well.

As soon as the cameras began showing Anastasia praying, she became a symbol of the new religious movement. It was all allegorical, with children being turned into symbols for the new religion. Anastasia was true innocence and a much better figure than Raven, who used trickery to get by in the start of the Games. Anastasia's innocence was portrayed to be the Lord's goodwill, which was the good in the world. Willabeana's sacrifice was also praised and soon she became the first 'martyr' for the cause. Things only began to heat up once Raven began teaching Anastasia how to pray properly and offered to die for her.

"A noble sacrifice for a noble man!" Azriel's mother, Myza, had cried out to her congregation, who looked back at her with sympathy. Many of them wished that their children were brave enough to do what Raven was doing for Anastasia while children made promises to one another to die for their friends or family if they had too. Some of the children even promised to volunteer for each other if their friends or family were ever Reaped. Azriel sat with her preaching mother in silence, not willing to speak out against her brother or her mother.

The mood changed though when both Raven and Anastasia were killed.

For a week or so, the religious fever had died down as citizens became distraught. Their figures of divinity had perished to a girl that could only be defined as a minion of the devil. Willow was evil incarnate, a symbol of evil and thus the Capitol. Myza and Azriel did not leave their tent home, lost in prayer and grief for their fallen family member. Myza had repeatedly told her daughter that Raven was in a better place now and that God would forgive him his atheist beliefs based off the 'good morality of his character'.

"He shall not have died in vain!" A shaken Myza had declared, her old body weak from exhaustion and grief. "My son is a martyr! Your brother is a martyr! He shall be remembered as one by everyone!"

Before long, that was the new image. Raven the martyr. Raven, who had stood against the Capitol's twisted Hunger Games by proclaiming he would sacrifice himself for Anastasia instead of claiming Victory himself. He joined Willabeana in that holiest of holy positions as people honored them as true believers in the good of humanity and thus God's grace. The Head Peacekeeper of District 9, concerned about the growing religious group, sent some of his men to shut down several congregations, most of which were peaceful. Anti-religious propaganda began popping up around the District and severe crackdowns began for anyone who openly practiced faith, just like the whipping that Azriel had just seen.

It did more harm than good however, as Myza's followers become more violent with their message. The threat of persecution was an elixir for the hurt religious folk, the violent response from Peacekeepers encouraging them that they were on the side of good morality. Soon word began spreading about the Reaping being rigged, just like it had been for Daira and the District 8 tributes. The message, Raven had been Reaped as a set up to discredit and discourage Myza from continuing to preach her message. District 9 was now in a volatile state, rebellion most likely to occur at any moment.

Azriel moved past the throngs of people gathering in front of the Justice Building for the Victory Tour. The Peacekeepers, fearing that too many citizens might start a riot, were careful about which citizens to let in. Azriel entered the Justice Building to the cheers of the crowd though, much to her dismay. As the daughter of Myza, Azriel had begun to gain a certain amount of prominence amongst her mother's flock. Many expected her to take over once her mother passed, though recently Azriel had become disenchanted with her mother's practices.

Inside the Justice Building stood an armed contingent of Peacekeepers, surrounding the Mayor and his family and the tribute representatives. Anastasia's parents stood on one side, their faces sunken and despair ridden, while her mother stood on the opposite, face bright and an odd look of hope filling it. "There you are, Azriel! I was worried that you weren't going to show." Myza said to her daughter.

Azriel approached the group slowly, face tight. "The Peacekeepers are cracking down on people, mother." Azriel said. "The District is in chaos!"

Myza looked at her daughter happily. "The word of God has spread, sweetie. Those people honor our fallen children! Anastasia and Raven are smiling down upon us in joy that the Capitol is being defied!"

The Peacekeepers looked at Myza dangerous, but made no move to correct her. They were far too preoccupied with worrying about the growing crowd outside. "Please..." Anastasia's mother, Cherene, pleaded. "Please stop talking about Ana!"

Myza looked at the Louivere family in disgust. "Honor your fallen child! She died for the good of humanity!"

"SHE DIED BECAUSE WILLOW KILLED HER!" Cherene broke down, "Not for your stupid religion!"

"Make her stop, please!" Anastasia's father, Kestrel, asked off Azriel.

"Mother, this isn't the place to be talking about such things." Azriel said harshly.

Myza looked at her daughter with equal disgust as she did the Louivere's. "How could you say such a thing? Hiding in the shadows is no longer how we do things, Azriel. We, the followers of God, have nothing to fear anymore!"

The Peacekeepers looked at the representatives threatening, causing the Louivere's to tremble under their gaze. While Myza had channeled her lose into defying the Capitol, the Louivere's hadn't had a proper chance to grieve for their lost daughter. Before Anastasia was even buried properly, their entire District had turned Anastasia into their puppet of religion! They made her into something she wasn't, something that they desperately wanted to believe! While the District started to see Anastasia as a strong leader, the Louivere's saw their thirteen year old daughter being torn down by the Games and looking for comfort in anyway she could find it. They had cried together over their inability to help Anastasia, their inability to bring her home and tell her that everything was going to be ok. They eventually turned to the same methods as their daughter and prayed for her well being every single morning and night.

But like their daughter's prayers, they had been for naught. Willow Bark had seen to that.

Now, all the Louivere's wanted was to move on with their broken lives. Their sweet, innocent daughter had been taken from them and ruined by the Capitol. Now, their own District was doing the same, taking away the memory of their daughter and using it to their own advantage. The Louivere's were trapped in their lives, now the unwilling and unwanting parents of the representative of humanities goodness.

_'What good is there in this world that allows for a thirteen year old girl to be slaughtered as entertainment?!'_ Cherene had screamed at her husband upon awakening from a dream where Anastasia was alive and still with them. Kestrel could only shake his head at his wife and hold her tightly, no words of comfort for either of them.

The representatives stood in silence for a while before the Peacekeepers informed them it was time to start the ceremony. They were lead out onto the stage by Peacekeepers, all of whom where heavily armed, and were surprised to find an adoring crowd waiting for them.

Or at least, waiting for Myza.

They chanted her name out loud, wishing her good health and God's blessing. They screamed her name like a prayer, like _she_ was God. The look the Louivere's gave Myza was one of pure hatred, along with the mayor and the Peacekeepers. Azriel kept her expression blank, though internally she was angry and afraid for the crowd. Such an action was beyond a few whips, it could warrant imprisonment or damnation as an Avox! Myza seemed unaware of the danger, sitting down next to her daughter with a triumphant smile on her face.

"The Peacekeepers will kill you, mother!" Azriel chastised.

Myza looked at her daughter unconcerned. "So what if they do?"

"Mother!" Azriel breathed in shock. "You would die for this cause?!"

"Of course, Azriel." Myza said calmly. "All religions must have a martyr leader. If it must be me, than so be it."

"I thought Willabeana, Anastasia, and Raven were your martyrs!" Azriel said through clenched teeth.

Myza did not respond as the mayor began addressing the crowd to welcome the star of the Victory Tour. Azriel sat through it uncomfortably, knowing that the crowd might revolt at any second and that she was about to see the girl who killed her brother. Part of her wanted to attack Willow, to gouge her eyes out and make her suffer for killing her brother. But the rest of her knew that such an action would get her killed.

_'I don't care if I die if it was avenging you.'_ Azriel thought.

_'You won't avenge me.'_ The Raven voice said. _'You'll only end up killing yourself and making Willow seem stronger.'_

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the Victor of the 76th Hunger, Willow Bark of District 7." The Mayor proclaimed with as much enthusiasm as he could.

The Doors to the Justice Building opened and the crowds mouths opened with it, boos and hisses issued from them. Willow Bark stepped forth with her trademark smile, only to have it fall from her face when she heard the crowd. Her face scrunched in rage but she continued her way to the podium to read her scripted speech. Azriel smirked at Willow's discomfort, satisfied that nobody was letting Willow get off easy. District 9 hadn't been so close to victory in the Games for the longest time, hell they hadn't been in the final eight for a long time! So close to victory, only to be robbed by someone like Willow.

_'That's the world of Panem.'_ Raven's voice answered.

Willow's speech was dull and filled with Capitol rhetoric, though she said every sentence like she meant it. Perhaps she was just trying to get back at District 9 for their rude turn out. Azriel didn't particularly care as she continued to stare daggers at Willow, willing her to just fall over and die from some fluke health condition. The Louivere's didn't even look at Willow, their hands knitted tightly together in emotional support as they looked like they'd rather be turned into Avoxs then endure being so close to the girl who ended their daughter's life. Myza, on the other hand, looked calm as she stared over the crowd, their eyes deviating from Willow and then back to their leader. Willow wrapped up her speech with a smile, expecting the crowd to give their forced applause. She was given something radically different, however.

"DEMON!" A voice pierced through the air.

The atmosphere changed dramatically as Peacekeeper's perked up and began scanning the crowd for the voice. However, the voice was no longer alone as other's began contributing as well, screaming about how Willow deserved hell. The crowd was soon out of control and rushed forward, charging the stage while screaming for Willow's head. Peacekeepers stepped in and dragged Willow back into the Justice Building with their guns drawn as Peacekeepers lined up on stage, raising their guns as well.

Azriel's mother stood up, face stony with a look of solidarity. "You can not deny the people God!" she shouted at the Peacekeepers.

"Mother, stop it!" Azriel shouted at her mom, urging her to sit back down. Myza wasn't responsive and she charged the Peacekeeper with her hands raised. It was threatening enough for the Peacekeepers, who turned to her and raised his gun. Azriel screamed when she saw this, rushing forward to drag her frail mother out of the gun's line of fire. The gun went off though, missing Myza's body but connecting with Azriel's, who had thrown her mother to the ground to escape the bullets, but hadn't had time to save herself. Azriel hit the stage hard, coughing up blood as more spewed from her chest, ripped open by the bullets from the Peacekeeper's gun.

"AZRIEL!" her mother shouted, running to her daughter's side. The crowd suddenly burst into revolt, charging onto the stage as the Peacekeepers rained bullets down on them. The Peacekeepers had guns, but the crowd had religious fever and the numbers to soon overtake the stage, seizing the Peacekeepers guns and killing them with their own weapon. The crowd turned into a lynching party, banging on the door to the Justice building and spreading out, calling out on other members of District 9 to go into full revolt. Out of sight, Willow and her entourage were escorted to a heavily armored vehicle waiting out back, which would bring them to the train station and to depart for District 8.

Back on the stage, Azriel could feel the world going darker while every movement made her feel weaker and less alive. She looked at her mother, who leaned in close to her daughter for her final moments.

"You're a symbol now, just like your brother!" Myza whispered excitedly to her daughter. "Don't be afraid of what's coming, you're going to join your brother soon enough!"

Azriel let out a cry as tears fell down her face. District 9 would suffer for this and suffer alone. She expelled one final breath as her mind faded, allowing her final thoughts to drift to Raven and issue one final prayer that there was a heaven so she might see her brother again.

Azriel's conscious vanished, off to find out the answer that had plagued people for centuries and driven them to revolt in District 9.

* * *

**_Next up: Sins of the Family - Districts 8 & 6 to 4_**

**_Also, thanks for answering all the questions! I'm happy to say that you guys had some really different answers, which is awesome! Go check them out on the review page if you like!_**


	4. The Victory Tour - Sins of the Family

**_Apparently there was an issue with last chapter and the email didn't go out to some people. If that was the case then I'm now going to inform you that YOU HAVE MISSED A VICTORY TOUR CHAPTER! Go back one and then read this one._**

**_Also, I had a weird dream that Gloss (who I have a crush on) was about to kill me (yikes) but Willow saved me by killing Gloss like she did Charm. I got up to thank her but then she started chasing me around the arena while I screamed at her "I MADE YOU VICTOR!". I managed to escape her, don't remember how._**

**_It was creepy and kind of funny since all the tributes from the 76th Games were there (they appeared the way I always pictured them). They didn't really do anything except stand around and talk and I could never hear what they were talking about because I don't know how their voices sound :(. Well... I do remember Cyra sighing in boredom and I heard Raven screaming about evil religion, his voice was really deep and sounded demonic. MAYBE HE HATES RELIGION BECAUSE HE'S THE ANTI-CHRIST... GASP! (Well... I guess it's 'hated' & 'was the' now)_**

**_Anyways, enjoy the chapter!_**

* * *

**Chapter 47 The Victory Tour - Sins of the Family**

**District 8**

Chaos was all that Mayor Tabatha Crumplefoot saw playing across her private office screen. Chaos descended upon District 9, a District that had succumbed to the religious fever that had been building for almost a year. Now the Capitol and the Peacekeepers were suffering from it, struggling to put out the flames of rebellion.

District 8 would suffer as well, in fact all of Panem would suffer because of District 9's rebellion. The damage being shown on screen was traumatic to put it lightly. Granaries were burned or torn down, Peacekeepers were dragged through the streets before being killed, and government buildings and institutes were vandalized and broken into. The District was in chaos and at the center of it was that continuing mantra.

_"GOD IS WITH US!"_

God is with us... what a curious phrase. Tabatha thought it over to herself, her staunch atheist views biasing her to the group's beliefs. If there was a God who was merciful and caring than he was doing a shit job of showing it. Still, Tabatha could feel her empathizing with the rebels as she too had felt the sting of the Capitol's evil when her son was killed in the Games.

Somewhat. Tabatha had always had an aloof relationship with her son and in the past few years, it had digressed to the point of mere tolerance. She had prepared herself for the possibility for her son being Reaped. There were always rumors, and somewhat circumstantial evidence, that mayor's children are singled out and Reaped to show people that no one is above the Game's influence. Since Choux had apparently been rigged to go into the Games, Tabatha had supposed that the rumors were true. It made sense why the Capitol would do it, to either spread fear or to placate the District citizens if they were disgruntled with their mayor, allowing them some small sense of satisfaction when their child died. Tabatha remembered how in the 25th Games, where the Districts choose which children they sent into the Games, a few Districts had chosen their mayor's child to enter just out of spite. It was cruel and very Capitolite of them, but then if there was one thing Tabatha learned in her eight years as Mayor it was that most people were morons.

No matter though. Tabatha was allowed to keep her position as mayor and that was what was important. Choux had always been a drain on her anyways, emotionally and financially. Tabatha had worked all her life to get where she was, working her ass off everyday to gain her position as mayor. She took pride in her hard working nature and career, but Choux had no drive while alive. He couldn't survive in the real world of Panem like that and had shown so with his descent into insanity.

Despite her son's death, Tabatha couldn't spend time to grieve, however short a period it might have been. Her District needed her and she was more than willing to help. She organized various crews to deal with the rising issues of disease and waste in the District, offering money from her own paycheck to down and out homeless masses. She organized sewer cleaners, street cleaners, and delivered the yearly tesserae to families personally. She was trying to make herself a symbol of good in a District that appeared to be turning against her. For the most part it seemed to be working as the rebellious air come down to a more controllable level. Two years ago, workers attempted a strike in their sweatshop factories by taking over and killing the Peacekeepers on duty. Instead of negotiating or igniting further rebellion, the Head Peacekeeper rolled up with others and ordered the factories burned to the ground. It had taken days to pull all the charred remains from the factories, the majority of them belonging them to young teens that got caught up in the adult's rebellious fever.

District 8 would not survive another attempted rebellion, and it was Tabatha's duty protect them, even from what they thought best. It was her responsibility and hers alone as her husband had left her high a dry after his death two years ago. She needed to hold onto power if this District had any chance at surviving.

"Ma'am," Tabatha's secretary interrupted. "But the Dashwillow children are here now."

Tabatha dismissed her secretary, moving to the main foyer of the Justice Building to greet Danielle's two remaining siblings. They both stood to the side, the twelve year old twins brothers holding each other tightly. Noah and Metrice were still orphans on the street, just like their sister had left them. They were worse off though then six months ago though. Any bit of fat on them had been cannibalized by their bodies, making them look like stick figures that would collapse at any moment.

"Noah, Metrice." Tabatha began, stepping forward to them. The twins' eyes shot to their mayor, though seeing her comforted neither of them. Instead of offering an apology, Tabatha simply nodded her head and turned away from them.

Following the Reaping, Tabatha had invited the boys to dine with her often, hoping to provide them some form of comfort and boost her image in the District. Her and the boys actually became close during that time, closer than she had been with her own son in a long time. However when the interviews aired, everything changed. Danielle's rebel ties were broadcast to all of Panem and the boys became a stain on her image. Tabatha couldn't associate with them if she hoped to keep power, least the Capitol think she was showing favor to children with rebel ties. Their relationship officially ended though when Choux drove his knife into Danielle's gut and left her to bleed out. Tabatha hadn't seen the boys in almost six months, something she began to feel some guilt over.

Her guilt was pushed aside however as the Victory Tour began. Tabatha led the boys onto the stage and began addressing her District with the same speech she read every year. The crowd couldn't care less though, all of them looking like they just wanted to leave and get drunk off the cheap, abundant alcohol made available by the coming Feast.

She finished her speech and introduced Willow to the restless audience. Willow appeared from the Justice Building, smiles and all even though she was dressed horrendously. Tabatha wasn't too surprised by her mismatched outfit however as she remembered reviewing the order forms for the year from the Capitol. Apparently, mismatched colors and design schemes were the newest fashion in the Capitol and Willow's stylists wanted to show it off for the textile District.

_'Be Bold!'_ The promotion for the new fashion was claiming. _'Be Rebellious and Stand Out, Not In!'_

Tabatha had promptly tossed the advertisement into the trash, disgusted by the terrible marketing and the terrible people behind it.

Willow's speech was quick and to the point. She finished in record time and was applaud by the District reluctantly while the representatives met with their Victor to congratulate her. Tabatha's remarks were quick and ceremonial, as she had met with Willow earlier. Willow had treated her with a mean spirited attitude, oblivious to social grace. Exactly what Tabatha expected from the psycho Victor and she was prepared to deal with it.

Noah and Metrice were not however.

"C-congratulations, Victor Willow." Noah stated, offering his hand to shake. Metrice stood a little behind his brother, watching Willow with a nervous look. Willow smiled at the two boys and stepped forward to shake their hands. When she finished, Willow frowned at them. "Wait... who are you representing?"

Noah swallowed nervously. "Our sister... Dani..." he said.

Willow scoffed. "Who the hell was that?" she asked. "Was there a Dani this year?"

Metrice was crying while Noah shook with rage and sadness. "Danielle! She was our sister!" he whimpered.

"Whatever." Willow responded with a laugh. "One less name to remember is fine by me."

Noah and Metrice could do nothing as Willow mocked their dead older sister. Danielle may not have meant much to anybody else, but she had been the boy's older sister. Their mother after their own had taken her life. Their sister meant nothing to anyone but them it seemed, she would only be remembered as some nameless bloodbath for the rest of Panem.

Not as a great older sister, not as an amazing caregiver, just a statistic for the Games.

Tabatha looked at the crying twins, knowing that their suffering would only be continuing. As son's of a rebel family, the Capitol had not forgotten about them and still considered them a possible threat. There was only one fate for traitors besides death and that was being turned into an Avox.

Tabatha had her contacts in the Capitol confirm it, Noah and Metrice were to be abducted quietly in the night and shipped off to the Capitol to be turned into Avoxs. At twelve years of age, the twins were at the perfect point for the Capitol to mold and break them however they wanted. Tabatha could only stand back and hope that the boys got the job of household servant and not the role of laborer or sewer cleaner where death was guaranteed. Though there was a worse fate in the sex trade. Capitolites had weird tastes in bed and pre-pubescent twins were... well Tabatha couldn't even think about it.

No, she had to think of other things. Without another thought, Tabatha left the stage without a second thought to the well fair of the two little boys who would live the rest of their lives in misery.

* * *

**District 6**

The Kale's were prisoners in their home.

Or more properly, the mayor's assigned housing.

It had been three days since the crowds had begun to form outside the mayor's house, three days since the protests began that called for Mayor Kale's head on a platter. After three days stuck next to her abomination of a husband, Sheila Kale was very much considering it a viable option to ending the mental anguish of listening to her husband.

"I am their Mayor!" Warren Kale screamed into his telephone as he talked to somebody at the Justice Building. "You tell those filthy people out there to make way for me before I call the Peacekeepers down on them! What? Of course I can do that? I'M THE FUCKING MAYOR, THAT'S WHY!"

Sheila got up from her comfy couch and poured herself yet another glass of hard liquor, straight. Anything else made Sheila feel weak.

"Just get it done!" Warren shouted into the receiver before slamming the phone down. His face was red with rage and features resembling a spoiled boy who hadn't gotten what he wanted for his birthday. Sheila snorted derisively at her husband and finished her drink in one deep gulp, immediately pouring herself another. Warren stared at his wife in disdain. "Can you do nothing else but drink?" he asked her angrily.

As an answer, Sheila finished her second glass quicker than the first. The liquor burned her throat as it went down, but at the same time invigorated her.

"You're a disgrace." Warren spat, storming from the room.

"Just like our son, right?" A tipsy Sheila shouted at her husband, her balance off as she spun to face the man she once loved. "Is it my fault he turned out such a failure to you?"

"You certainly didn't help." Warren said, turning to rush towards his wife in a rage. Sheila didn't flinch though, knowing her husband would never dare lay a finger on her. He got his kicks though verbal beat downs, not physical ones. Even in her drunken state, Sheila knew she could still kick her husband's ass.

"I knew it..." Sheila muttered, putting down the glass and holding the bottle to her lips. "I knew you blamed me..."

Warren sighed, trying to take the bottle from his wife. Sheila fought back, struggling to hold the bottle to her lips as her husband's hands tried to tear it away. Liquor spilled from the top, splattering the carpeted rug and Sheila's dress. In a rage, Sheila tore the bottle from her husband's hands and threw it against the nearest wall. The crack that followed though was nothing compared to Sheila's scream of rage.

"IT'S YOUR FAULT THAT JONATHAN TURNED OUT THAT WAY!" She shouted at her husband. "You turned him into that monster! Into the rapist! Into the very thing that our District hates us for!"

"We disowned him!" Warren shouted back. "He's not our responsibility anymore!"

Sheila laughed angrily, giving her husband a death glare. "Let me tell you something, buddy!" she hissed, jabbing Warren in the chest with her pointer finger. "He will always be our responsibility because he's our son! And I take back what I said, Jonathan is only one reason why this District hates us!"

To confirm that fact, the crowd outside only grew fiercer in it's battle cry. The group was the pre-lynching mob that wanted the Kale's dead or at least removed from office. Over the past six months, things had only gotten worse for District 6 as the promise of reward that Warren thought Jonathan would bring fell threw. Starvation was at an all time high throughout the District as citizens died by the hour. Along with starvation came the usual other problems such as crime, violence, and disease. The Capitol could only be blamed for so much, and with a mayor who for the longest time did not seem to care for them, the District was ready to take action.

That and the accusations of rape.

A nasty word for nasty people. The Capitol had edited out in the final version of the Games Azzura screaming about Jonathan raping her, but in the original live version where producers would not dare edit any part of the Bloodbath, the entire nation of Panem heard the accusation and watched as Azzura was killed before she could exact revenge.

Needless to say, accusations of rape did not go away easily and actions were taken to make the Kale's suffer for their rapist son. Whether or not he actually raped anyone became irrelevant to the masses. The first to lead the charge was Azzura's own sister, Datni. A maid in the Kale's household, Datni came out publicly to denounce Jonathan and the Kale's, claiming that Jonathan had extorted her for sexual favors.

"He... he threatened to have me fired if I didn't comply!" Datni had cried to the masses. "He said I would never get any other work in the District! That he would see to it! That his father would see to it!"

Before long, other maids had started coming forward saying that Jonathan had taken advantage of them as well. The final nail in the coffin came moments before Jonathan's death in the Games, when he seemingly attempted to force himself on Isabella. Even though Caspian snapped Jonathan's neck, the crowd was not quelled as it continued to demand that the Kale's pay in some form for their son's actions. This, matched with the ever worsening conditions of the District, only led to the entire District hating Warren Kale. It had started off as simple jeers on the street when people saw him, but in the past few weeks it had escalated to thrown rocks and attempted assault. Three citizens were nearly whipped to death by Peacekeepers, but it did nothing to deter the District from their hate. In fact, the Peacekeeper intervention only increased the hate.

There was a knock on the door and a Peacekeeper entered, looking around curiously at the mess of spouses. "Sir, ma'am, we're ready to take you two to the Justice Building."

"How?" Sheila laughed, collapsing on the couch. "The crowd hasn't dispersed like their noble mayor requested!"

"There is an underground passage between here and the Justice Building, we will take you through." The Peacekeeper explained.

Both Kale's looked at the man curiously. "Why were we never informed of this passage?" Warren snapped.

"F-For personal, official, Capitol reasons." The Peacekeeper fumbled. It wouldn't do the Peacekeeper any good to tell them it was built for Peacekeepers to easily 'eliminate' a mayor if he became an issue.

The Kale's complied and walked through the long, white painted tunnel to the Justice Building. Upon arriving, they were forced to wait with the one family they wanted nothing to do with. The Blue Family.

"Datni," Warren said with a forced smile. "So sorry for your loss."

Datni stared pure hatred at the mayor, her two younger siblings, no more than ten, also echoed this expression. Their mother and father did not appear too. The father just appeared tired while the mother actually seemed spiteful, though more towards her daughter.

"Why do you insist on wasting this effort on that pathetic girl?" Datni's mother hissed. "Azzura was a fool for volunteering! I always knew she'd end up dead in the Bloodbath!"

"Shut up mother!" Datni shouted. "She would have survived if it wasn't for their son!"

"Or Charm." Datni's mother muttered.

"Please," Sheila said softly, stepping closer to the Blue's. "I'm so sorry for the behavior of my son. You have to believe me!"

Datni stepped back, along with the other members of the family, actually gagged at her. "Ugh! Were you dumped in alcohol?" she asked Sheila, face scrunched in disgust.

Warren grabbed his wife by the arm and dragged her back. "I apologize for my wife, she hasn't been herself since the boy's death."

Datni snorted. "It's cute how you refer to him as the boy instead of Jonathan."

The two families were allowed no time to bicker further though as the Victory Tour was commencing. Warren stepped up to the podium first, welcoming his District to the Victory Tour and giving the usual spiel. He attempted to ignore the muttering from the crowd and their stares of hate, but eventually he gave up and wrapped up his speech half way through. He introduced Willow who came bouncing out of the Justice Building in preppy fashion. Warren went to his wife's side, angrily taking the lesser seat as he was forced to be representative to his son.

For the most part, Willow was relatively tame and did not act like anyone thought she would. The Blue family stared at her angrily, but reserved their true rage for the Kale's. Datni actually felt an odd sort of appreciation for Willow as she killed Azzura's killer. Meanwhile, Sheila had completely zoned out from the speech. She desperately craved some form of liquor to make the whole proceeding easier. Her drinking hadn't just started when Jonathan had passed, it had started well before that when she allowed her husband to take over Jonathan's life, allowed him to twist her sweet boy into the monster who appeared in the Games.

_'It's all my fault... I could have stopped it if I tried...'_ Sheila thought in misery, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She angrily wiped them away and looked out at the crowd. Nobody seemed to be paying attention to Willow, most of the crowd's eyes instead set on the Kale's. Warren was trying to ignore them while Sheila embraced their glares with twisted satisfaction.

_'I know what you people want.'_ She thought with a smile. _'And I'm willing to give it.'_

Willow's speech ended and the crowd began to cheer as the Capitol wanted. Willow stepped down from the podium and was then approached by both families. The Kale's went first, with Warren shaking the Victor's hand with a smile for the camera. Willow smiled briefly before opening her mouth to spit on the mayor. Warren recoiled, shocked by the Victor's actions. He was even angrier when the crowd of District citizens genuinely cheered after a shocked pause.

"I don't appreciate rapists." Willow said simply, her eyes showing a look of vengeance for previous trauma.

The Peacekeepers stepped forward and dragged the mayor and his wife back into the Justice Building. Datni looked at the procedure happily, walking up to Willow with a forced smile on her face. She too offered her congratulations and a side note as well. "Thank you." Datni said. "For killing that bitch who killed my sister."

Willow raised an eyebrow. "Wow, that's the first real compliment I've gotten on this tour." Willow said with a smile. Datni said nothing else as she walked off stage with the rest of her family, eagerly thinking of the next step in her plan for the downfall of the Kale family.

The Victory Feast consisted of straight liquor for Sheila as she was forced to sit next to Willow and her husband for it. Warren gave a few more remarks complimenting Willow, which only soured the mood of the guests even more, before turning to his wife and asking her to leave. "Your behavior is disgraceful. You should excuse yourself and make things easier." He whispered harshly.

Sheila thought it was an excellent idea and laughed giddily as she stumbled down the stage with a bottle of alcohol in hand. Peacekeepers had to help her down the steps as people watched her go in disgrace. Warren shook his head in anger at his wife, who was now screaming hysterical in the other room. Warren excused himself from the table and left the festival to deal with Sheila. He stormed into the side room, angry to see his wife struggle to be released from the Peacekeeper's grasp.

"Release her!" Warren commanded, "I'll deal with her."

The Peacekeepers were only to happy to leave them be, closing the door behind them as they left. Sheila stood with her husband in the side room, giggling drunkenly to herself. "Why must you continue to make a spectacle of yourself?" Warren demanded. "Do you think that this will somehow make you more appealing to those filthy masses that we lord over?"

Sheila laughed. "You think you're so much better than everyone else, don't you?" she asked her husband, a bemused smile on her face which betrayed the rage she felt. "I got news for you bub, you're not! You're just as pathetic as everyone else!"

Warren stepped forward and smacked his wife across the face. Sheila stumbled back and fell to the ground, the bottle of alcohol smashing onto the ground and spilling its remaining contents onto the ground. She looked to her husband in shock, the sting from his slap burning despite the numbing alcohol coursing through her. They had never had a happy marriage, but their unhappiness had never turned to physical abuse before today.

"I AM BETTER THAN THEM!" Warren screamed at his wife, face red with rage. "I am their mayor! I am their leader in this fucked up world! They owe me everything and have to trust that I know what's good for them!"

Sheila shook with rage, grasping behind her for the broken bottle. No words escaped her mouth, the words that she would use to damn her husband's actions and thoughts. The words that would tell her husband that there was only one thing he could do for his District at that point which would make them love him again.

An action that Sheila would take upon herself to preform.

Her son had been a force of evil in this world, empowered by her corrupted husband's desire for continuing power and the benefits a Victor brought him. She had failed to stop this evil from spreading, failed her son and her District, but she would make it up this instant.

Grabbing hold of the broken bottle's neck, Sheila launched herself from the floor in a moment of clarity. Warren turned to his shrieking wife, screaming in agony as she plunged the broken edges of the bottle into his chest. Sheila removed the bottle and kept stabbing anywhere she could, opening up wounds all across her husband's body. One strike managed to stab Warren underneath his left armpit, rupturing major arteries surrounding his heart. Blood spurted from his side and he collapsed to the ground while his bloody wife continuing to stab his now lifeless body.

The doors burst open and Peacekeepers rushed in, too late. One of them ran towards Sheila to disarm her, but she caught the movement out of the corner of her eye and reacted. She backed towards the edge of the room and raised the broken bottle to her throat, smiling through her bloody face.

"Let me do this!" She shouted at the Peacekeeper's, adrenaline keeping her mind clear of the foggy influences of alcohol. "I'm going to find my son, and beg his forgiveness."

Before the Peacekeepers could talk her down, Sheila stabbed the bottle's serrated edges into her throat, puncturing her windpipe and artery. She pulled it out quickly, allowing blood to leave her system faster. With a smile and a dream of meeting her son once more, Sheila fell to the ground dead.

The Kale family was no more.

* * *

**District 5**

Everyone dealt with grief in different ways. Some people laid it all out there, crying their eyes out and wailing to the world about their misery. Others channeled it into rage, screaming and raging against everything around them as they wished the world to feel the grief they do. Then some shut down entirely in fear of experiencing grief's harsh whip or obsessed over other things to keep their minds busy and distracted.

Watt and Elin Brites had taken to the last two roads, their grief for their two lost children, Rory and Daira, to overpowering to deal with properly.

Both parents went through their daily routines without change. They would wake up at dawn exactly, dress for the day, and leave their cramped apartment space without a word. Watt would go to work at the power planet and sit in front of monitors for eight hours, making sure that the energy was flowing and being processed as it should. It was a relatively easy job that he had gotten through some smart office maneuvering two years ago. Light goes off, press it and phone the respective department that if responsible. After work, Watt would return home where he would strip down to his underwear and sit on the edge of his bed, waiting the appropriate time to drift to sleep.

In comparison, Elin was more active than her husband. Her job was in the Justice Building where she served as a worker drone for the Capitol. All day she would sit at her small desk with her computer and type out or forward messages to ensure District 5's smooth running. Elin would completely devote herself to the work, typing furious onto her keyboard messages to plant mangers and other worker drones such as herself in other Districts to ensure they were receiving appropriate amounts of energy. All the while, Elin would ignore the whispers from her co-workers who looked at her with pity for her losses. Elin ignored them the best she could and went home alone, walking through the smog filled streets of District 5 as quickly as she could. Upon arriving at her apartment, Elin would begin cleaning it to make it spotless until it was time to sleep next to her spouse.

The two had not said a word to each other in almost two months.

The Victory Tour did little to help the two as an armed Peacekeeper escort forced them into the Justice Building. Stuck in their routine, both parents had completely forgotten that the Victory Tour was coming and they would be forced to attend. The Peacekeepers rushed them from their complex, not offering any sympathy. The majority of their family friends had been kind, but after a few months they had moved on and expected the Brites to as well.

If only it were that easy.

Ushered into the Justice Building, the Brites took a seat on a dusty couch across the room from the two remaining members of Delvin's family, his mother, Veronica, and his ten year old sister, Nora.

Everyone knew what happened to the other two members of the Winter's family, it was what most people expected to happen a long time ago. Nolan, terribly drunk one night, stumbled home to begin abusing his wife. His only remaining son, Lucas, twelve years of age, tried to stop him but got a brutal smack down for it. The beating was too much for the twelve year old to handle and Nolan ended up killing his own son. Nolan had a break down at that, falling into completely insanity as he attempted to kill the rest of his family. Veronica managed to escape with Nora to the Peacekeepers, who arrested Nolan for manslaughter and promptly executed him. Peacekeepers didn't care about family matters, but murder would affect public order and action had to be taken then.

Both families sat across the room from each other, starring at each other in stony silence. They said nothing, but at the same time said more than enough. The looks on their faces showed all, their shared grief and uncertainty for the future etched into them.

For the first time in a while, Elin's hand sought physical comfort from her husband. She intertwined her hand with his, squeezing it tightly. Watt returned the gesture, looking at his wife with a sad smile. They were old, almost fifty in age, and their children both killed by the Capitol. Rory because he dared to speak out against the horrible machine that was Panem and Daira because she got sucked into the machine's evil games.

They could die any day and nobody would remember them, no one would carry on their legacy.

Their lives meant nothing anymore.

They wanted nothing to do with Panem anymore.

Willow's speech was faster than they anticipated, probably because the Brites weren't paying her much attention. After her speech, they congratulated Willow on her victory in hollow voices. Willow seemed to be making some smart remark about their daughter's death, but neither of the Brites cared to respond. They left the stage quickly, returning to their apartment to be away from the mob of cameras and pity filled faces.

Elin finally spoke to her husband. "There isn't any point, is there?" she asked, the weakness in her voice surprising even her.

Watt turned to his wife and shook his head. "There's nothing left for us." he responded, equally as weak.

An unspoken conversation between the two of them occurred as they remember something they mentioned months ago. It had seemed like a moment of weakness to them then, but now it seemed to be a very real possibility. Without any words, husband and wife walked to their small, broken down bathroom and shut the door behind them. Elin stuffed a blanket under the door just like they had discussed while Watt began breaking down the wall above their toilet. The gas lines ran right past their bathroom, a dangerous utility failure on the part of the construction crew but a god sent to them now.

With a quick bang, the gas line was broken. A haze entered the adult's minds as the gas began to take hold of them, numbing them to everything else. They reached for each other and held each other tightly in their final moments, breathing in the gas willingly. They had tried to move on, tried to move on after the death of their children, but were unable too. They had only survived Rory because they had Daira, but once she was taken from the world they had nothing. The Capitol would continue to punish them for their thoughts on rebellion and never let them be at peace.

The only true peace would be found in death, along with their children.

The complex's landlord began banging on the Brites door the next morning. He would find their bodies and report it to the Peacekeepers, who were also busy with another death that morning as well. A call had come in late the previous night about noises heard in the Winter's household, sobbing and screaming in nature. The Peacekeepers had entered only to find little Nora suffocated by a pillow and Veronica lying on the ground with her wrists slit.

They too had found fallen prey to the futility of life in Panem.

* * *

**District 4**

"Sweetie, it's time to get off."

Ten year old Elise was pulled out of her restless sleep by her mother, Katerina, as the ferry pulled up next to District 4's main city. Her father, Jameson, got up from his seat silently and carried his daughter off the ferry. "Let's get this over with." He muttered to his wife.

The West's had never been big on the District 4 social spotlight, but Isabella's involvement in the Games forced them into it. People they had never talked to suddenly became their friends and eagerly lined up at the Justice Building to begin making sponsorship contributions to their daughter. People came up to the West's, wanting to wish them good luck with their daughter, as if their words could somehow influence the Games. Other's however, well aware of Isabella's parents activities as Gamemakers, spat at them and wished for their daughter to die as petty revenge.

For the most part though, the Wests ignored these people and remained in their secluded home near the beach. They sat everyday in front of the TV, watching the Games to root on Isabella. Katerina and Jameson were happy that their daughter was competent on her own, able to make alliances - even if it was with a District 3 tribute and not the Careers - and managed to get a weapon of her own. They were less thrilled though when Isabella admitted to being unable to kill. Even little Elise knew that Isabella's odds of coming home had dropped considerably. No one wanted to sponsor someone who couldn't do what the Hunger Games required. All the sponsors in the Capitol wanted to believe that all tributes, no matter how young or innocent they might appear, were capable to killing. Hearing that they weren't was a major turn off for sponsors.

Koi, Isabella's boyfriend, would occasionally pop by to be with the Wests in order to watch Isabella and support them. Elise was happy enough to see him, though her parents were not as thrilled. Koi was much older than Isabella and to them he appeared to be taking advantage of their beautiful daughter. Elise was happy with him around though so Koi was allowed to stay when he came over.

Everything came crashing down when Genevieve arrive on screen though.

Katerina began screaming in horror when she saw her deceased daughter facing off against her live one while Jameson ran from the room into his private study. He dialed rapidly, demanding to speak to Crane about the mutt of his daughter, to beg him to call it off. He was not granted his wish though and Isabella was forced to kill Genevieve, driving her into insanity, before Willow Bark ended her own life.

Six months later, the pain hadn't gotten any easier. The people who had been sympathetic while Isabella was alive were still there to attempt and cheer the family up, but were usually brushed off in quick fashion. Koi had tired to be one of those people, but Isabella's parents wanted nothing to do with him. He was now just a symbol of their lost daughter and they refused to associate with him. Elise had been heartbroken and had cried for days, but it seemed like most days she cried at least once. Katerina was well aware of her failure as a mother to Elise and Isabella, and that didn't show more than now when she had no idea how to cheer Elise up.

The wait in the Justice Building was unbelievably long for the Wests. The adults wanted to leave as soon as possible, knowing that such a public ceremony surrounding their daughter would only make them, and Elise, into crying messes. It was unwarranted, but Katerina couldn't help but feel rage towards her daughter for not winning. If she had been able to kill then Katerina had no doubt that Isabella would have been Victor and not this evil bitch of a girl who killed her daughter.

_'No...'_ Katerina thought. _'Willow was merely the tool the Capitol used to kill Isabella. The Capitol is to blame.'_

Despite knowing that truth, Katerina did not feel any less hate towards Willow. Maybe if Willow appeared to at least feel bad for taking Isabella's life it might have helped, or became insane as the Games progressed, then Katerina could be more understanding toward her. Katerina paused, sighing to herself.

_'Does this make me a bad parent?'_ She thought. _'Trying to justify Willow's actions that cost my daughter life?'_

_'I was already a bad parent to start.'_

On stage, Elise was a balling mess. Katerina and Jameson attempted to calm their child as Willow spoke, but nothing they could say would stop the waterworks. Jameson stared at Willow hard, hoping that she could sense his hatred for her and react. Willow appeared not to though, like she was completely unaware that she had killed a member of the family to her left.

On the other side of Willow sat the de Burghs, representing Caspian. Or at least what remained of the family. After the District found out about Caspian and his family sabotaging the tributes that were suppose to volunteer, repercussion slammed down on them. Caspian's father took the fall for the entire family and had subsequently been exiled by the District social scene. It was tricky to punish them though as technically there was no official Career academy as training tributes for the Games was illegal, so any action was taken without government sanction. One night while walking the fisheries, Caspian's father was attacked and killed. The official report held 'muggers' as the culprit, but whispers spread that he was killed by the families who had lost their children before they had chance to enter the Games.

Both Katerina and Jameson found it darkly comedic how families could willingly allow their children into the Games, yet feel extreme bouts of rage when their child died. Statistically, if all other factors were taken out, a sole tribute against 23 others only had a 4.17% chance of being crowned Victor. With those odds, the family was basically condemning their child to death.

Willow's speech ended to the annoyed applause of the crowd. While District 4 was by no means bad off compared to the other Districts, it had been a while since they had a Victor, their last being Annie in the 70th Games. Isabella had been so close to victory, only to be denied by the girl who stood before them. The sour atmosphere only increased when the representatives offered their congratulations. The de Burgh's congratulations were rather quick and the animosity limited to simply Willow being Victor instead of Caspian. Isabella's parents however were in a completely different situation.

"You should really be thanking me too." Willow told them after they congratulated her. "You're daughter had gone bat shit insane and that's no way to live. I should know since I'm bat shit insane myself!"

It took every bit of Katerina's and Jameson's will power not to attack Willow, but they somehow managed. Elise, who was still crying, screamed at Willow. "You're a monster!" she shouted at her. "You're an awful person and I hope you die!"

Willow rolled her eyes. "The only people who die in this world are pathetic souls like your sister, while monsters like me thrive. I swear, I keep saying that line to idiots like you all the time. Maybe I should make that my catchphrase? It's a little wordy though..."

Willow turned and left the stage with a smile, leaving Katerina and Jameson to deal with Elise.

They didn't stay for the feast, returning home as quickly as possible. Upon coming up to their home however they were treated to an unwanted surprise. A car with a Capitol seal and Peacekeepers surrounding it waited out front of the West's house.

"West family?" One of them called at the family.

Slowly, Jameson stepped forward to identify himself first, with his wife and child behind him. The Peacekeeper pulled up a holographic pad with their faces on it, confirming it was them. "You have a visitor. Act respectfully." the Peacekeeper grunted, stepping aside so the West's could enter their house. Upon entering, they were greeted by a purple haired woman who observed their house with a critical look.

"You have a very lovely home."

Both parents gasped as they looked at the intruder, instantly recognizing her by the purple hair.

"Dr. Novella!" Katerina breathed, shocked to see the Capitolite in her own home. "W-What are you doing here?"

"Thought I'd stop by and pay a visit." Dr. Novella smiled happily, not bothering to get up from her place at the driftwood kitchen table. "We have things we need to discuss."

Elise looked at her parent's confused, surprised by their shock. Then again, she was also in shock. Elise had never seen a Capitolite in person, and her first time had already set her parent's on edge. Katerina turned to her daughter, looking her sternly in the eye. "Elise, go upstairs to your room and don't come out until we call."

Elise thought about protesting but decided against it. Quickly she made her way up the stairs to her room, shutting the door behind her. As soon as that was heard, Dr. Novella dropped her pleasant act and began authoritative.

"I come on President Snow's behalf." Dr. Novella said icily.

The Wests stared at her in shock. "Y-you work for Snow now?" Katerina responded.

"I do." Dr. Novella said. "Surly you've heard about the changes in leadership for next year's Games?"

"We heard about Plutarch being the Head Gamemaker, not much else." Jameson replied, his expression tactfully blank.

"It's a very nice change." Dr. Novella stated. "Plutarch is a far more competent man than Crane. That drunk."

Neither West felt like defending Crane, he was their employer and that was it. They felt no real sense of loyalty to the man.

"You didn't come to tell us about your promotion though." Jameson asked, wanting to keep the conversation moving.

"No I did not." Dr. Novella stated. She sighed and removed her glasses, cleaning them casually as she talked with the Wests. "Snow's regretful that he had to send you another message, he was so sure you got the first one.," she said with feigned sympathy. "I mean, he poisoned Genevieve to turn you off to any rebellious thoughts. But no, you had to go and try and help the Rebels again, didn't you?"

"We don't know what you're talking about." Jameson said in a stern tone.

"We have proof so can we please drop the act?" Dr. Novella asked. "We know that you've been passing secrets to the rebels."

"What secrets could we possibly be passing?" Katerina countered, the elevation in her tone clear.

"You know very well which ones." Dr. Novella answered. "Anyways, Snow felt that another message was in order for you two. Something that would stick a little harder. So as you know, we had Isabella Reaped and sent off to the Games."

Katerina gasped and stumbled back in shock while Jameson's face turned red with rage. Dr. Novella looked at them with surprise. "Hmm, apparently you didn't know we did that." She said dismissively.

"YOU BITCH!" Jameson roared.

Dr. Novella shrugged. "I've been called worse." she replied.

The Wests attempted to find words, but none came to mind. The idea had come to them that they were being punished for their rebellious actions, but decided that since no action was taken against them it must have been chance Isabella was reaped. Besides, they had already been punished once before for helping the rebels when Genevieve died. The Capitol had poisoned her and made her suffer before her death as a message to Katerina and Jameson about helping the rebels. They were only spared because of their skill as Gamemakers, but the Capitol had their children to threaten them with.

"It was all to toy with you." Dr. Novella explained. "We kept Isabella alive long enough to make her crack and forced her to suffer from death after death. Though we didn't really need to do much after Ivy's death. All that was left to do was send Genevieve in to drive her past the point of no return mentally and then Boom! Willow took care of the rest."

"You sick bastard!" Katerina screamed.

"And you two are bastards with us." Dr. Novella said noncommittal. "You're both mutt specialists. You know that we've had the Valkyrie in design for the longest time. They were such a success this year that we're considering bringing them back next year! Maybe... we don't want to get to repetitive. But that's also why I came today, you're help is requested for next years Games."

The Wests looked at Dr. Novella in shock. "We're not helping you anymore!" Jameson spat.

"You will if you want Elise to live." Dr. Novella threatened. "You should be happy you are being offered this chance anyways, most traitors don't get it. You two just happen to be better mutt specialists than anyone else. You're also liked more than that asshole Dr. Sinclair."

Smoothly, Dr. Novella pulled out a hologram projector and shots and models of mutts for the 77th Games began appearing around the West's first floor. "As you can see, most of these are pretty simple ones. But the one that we need you take care of is this one."

Most of the mutts disappeared from sight, leaving only one remaining. Dr. Novella enhanced the size of it and the complexity of the creature was shown to the Wests, who gasped in shock at the monstrosity. Dr. Novella smiled at their shock.

"We call it, the Leviathan." she whispered to them.

The terrifying mutt disappeared from sight as Dr. Novella closed the projector, preparing to leave the house. "Plutarch will be submitting the model of the arena to the President in two days. The President will approve the arena and you will be expected to report to work in three days. I would recommend getting a nanny for little Elise as you'll be spending a lot of time in the labs. I know that isn't an inconvenience to either of you since you left Elise's parenting to Isabella anyways."

Jameson didn't care what happened to him, he was going to kill Dr. Novella. He screamed loudly and charged at Dr. Novella, though was stopped when he saw Elise's figure at the bottom of the stairs.

Katerina gasped and rushed to her daughter. "I told you to wait upstairs until I called!" he chided.

The door burst open and Peacekeepers charged in, ready to guard Dr. Novella from wrathful parents. They were surprised though by the peaceful room and Dr. Novella smiling at Elise. She walked toward her and ignored Katerina's hard stare.

"Stay away from her!" Katerina snapped.

"Hello!" Dr. Novella said, ignoring Katerina. "Are you Elise?"

Elise nodded her head, scared of the nice, purple haired lady who made her parents nervous.

"Such a pretty name." Dr. Novella said. "Tell me, when will you be added to the Reaping pool?"

"T-two more years." Elise told the woman.

"Ah... so not that long then." Dr. Novella said happily.

Elise suddenly began to cry, realizing the awful truth. Her parents did as well, scared of the very clear threat that Dr. Novella was giving them. Dr. Novella turned to the adults of the family and gave them a soft smile. "See you at work." she said before exiting the house and returning to her car.

As soon as the door closed, the Wests rushed to their last remaining daughter, desperate to comfort and protect the last of the children.

Genevieve had died because of their mistakes.

Isabella had died because of their repeated mistakes.

Elise would not meet the same fate.

* * *

**_Next up: Gloria ad Capitolio - Districts 3 to 1 & the Capitol_**

**_I feel that the final scene with Jonathan's parents is a little soapy and too leaning towards 'good ending' for Panem. But after this entire story of darkness and evil prevailing, I figured I could at least give one 'good' victory. I don't know if I'm 100% ok with it and I might go back and change that scene to Sheila forced to live in drunken misery with her husband. We'll see…_**


	5. The Victory Tour - Gloria ad Capitolio

**_Ugh, this chapter would have been up last weekend but I had a lot going on. Also I'm getting sad, the story's almost over_**

**_:(_**

**_Shorter sections here. Career Districts don't really have the strife and sadness that can be found in the other Districts... Also I'm just in a rush to end this story... for certain reasons..._**

* * *

**Chapter 48 The Victory Tour - _Gloria ad Capitolio_**

**District 3**

Cassidy often visited District 3's Tribute Graveyard. Despite the eerie and sad atmosphere of a graveyard filled with children killed for sport, he felt an odd calm when he stood in front of one specific one.

**IVY SPARKS, AGE 17**

**TRIBUTE OF THE 76TH HUNGER GAMES**

**DEATH BY DROWNING, PLACED 10th**

He came to the grave once a week and would stand by it for quite sometime. He used to come with the rest of Ivy's family, but he realized quickly that they'd prefer to be alone in their grief. They were appreciative of Cassidy's gesture though, but acted hostile about it. Rev had long since become distant from him and Neon after his sister's death. They were twins and while Cassidy didn't buy the whole 'twin telepathy' thing, Rev certainly looked and acted like part of his soul had been ripped out when Ivy died.

Occasionally, Cassidy would see other people come into the graveyard and stand above the fallen tributes. These occurrences were not a common as most families either tried to forget or continued to have breakdowns upon entering the graveyard. Cassidy wasn't ashamed to admit that he too had broken down crying in front of Ivy's grave, grieving over the loss of his love and his inability to have acted sooner upon it.

If only he had been braver... courageous enough to ask Ivy out sooner. Courageous enough to love Ivy the way she deserved to be loved. They had admitted their love to each other during her goodbyes, but that didn't make up for anything. That didn't make things easier, if anything it made things harder. Cassidy was constantly flooded with anger at himself, anger towards his District, anger towards the Capitol.

They had taken her from him, taken her from this world without a second thought by the Capitol.

Cassidy left the graveyard peacefully to enter a world thrown into chaos. Following the bombing post-Reaping, District 3 had once more descended into chaos. Riots became commonplace along with vandalism and looting, public order was long lost, and the Peacekeepers were struggling to keep hold of the District. Cassidy looked around the area, happy beyond words at the rebellious nature that had been bred amongst the District citizen.

They were finally standing up to the Capitol, and it looked like they were winning too.

Ivy's final words to him constantly came back to him, telling him that he had the potential to become a leader if he wanted.

Something that looked like it was about to come true.

Cassidy had begun to take an active role within the District rebellion, helping to bring youthful member of the District into the rebellion. He organized protests, helped rob Peacekeepers of their weapons and weapons of control, he wrote propaganda that drove people to action. He was a force of change, something that he knew Ivy would be proud of immensely.

Despite his sadness towards his death, he felt a sense of peace at the idea that Ivy would be happy with what he had done.

Even in the darkness of the world, Cassidy felt like there was a legitimate chance for hope.

Hope that he, and his District, would bring for all of Panem.

* * *

**District 2**

The golden ring shined brightly under the sun, reflecting the its warmth and the ring's extravagant nature in equal terms.

Amara looked at the ring fondly, despite the depressing connotation that it held as she was forced to recall the man who gave it to her.

_'Nicolae...'_ Amara thought, _'You broke your promise.'_

She couldn't blame him though, Nicolae had tried his hardest. He was every bit the Career that District 2 and Amara wanted him to be, excelling at the art of killing and brutality needed to become Victor of the Hunger Games. Amara always knew that there was a chance Nicolae wouldn't come back and refused to give in to the idea that somehow Nicolae was 'immune' to the dangers that all tributes faced. Nicolae always promised to her that he would come back, that nobody was going to stop him from returning to District 2 a Victor and then marrying Amara. She would brush it off though; laugh at Nicolae's optimism while telling him not to get cocky. Amara always attempted to stay above Nicolae's soaring positivity of insured victory.

She sunk though, falling straight into his optimism the moment his canon sounded.

Amara had remained strong for as long as she could, but after a week of no grieving it all came out. Every promise Nicolae had made, all the love he had showered on him, all the memories of passion and love they shared, it was all for nothing! Nicolae was dead, bested by two pathetic outlier tributes! He had promised to come back alive... but had failed.

_'You were a fool, Amara.'_ she told herself. _'You don't date Careers... it never ends well...'_

Amara did a good job of keeping her emotions in check, but the Victory Tour only managed to bring them all to the surface once more. Forced to attend with the rest of the District, Amara told her parents that she would catch up with them when there. Her parents, ever absent, allowed her that freedom. Upon arriving to the Justice Building, Amara would suddenly struck by a revelation.

No one would represent Cyra or Nicolae that day. While the Capitol required that each tribute have representatives, District 2 could remain somewhat above that due to their favorable standing with the Capitol. The District wouldn't require family's to stand in as representatives if they didn't want too, which most didn't due to the public damnation that failed Careers faced.

Still... Nicolae deserved someone to stand for him.

When the doors to the Justice Building opened, the crowd was stunned to see their elderly mayor walk out with Amara. They were even more surprised when they saw Amara sit under the holographic face shot of Nicolae. Murmurs erupted around the crowd at the scandal and Amara could only picture the look of horror on her parent's faces when they saw her up there. It had actually been easier than she thought to get on stage. She was from a well known family in the District so the Peacekeepers knew she'd be a limited threat, plus the Capitol wanted _someone_ on stage since Cyra's parents hadn't bothered to show up. Apparently they were in one of the outskirt towns in the District, dried up in some drug den with morphling syringes constantly in their arms.

It was an unpleasant image for Amara, who suddenly thought about herself becoming like them.

No... no Amara was stronger than that and had her own life to lead now. Nicolae had been her first love and probably the only man she would love full heartily for her entire life. She would never forget Nicolae and standing up on stage representing him, letting him and Panem know that there was someone in District 2 who truly cared for him, that was special.

Even as Willow began to talk, Amara suddenly began to feel better. There was an odd, therapeutic aspect to doing what she was doing. This was her final goodbye to Nicolae, her final commemoration of him.

Willow finished her speech and Amara was guided over to the Victor to congratulate her. Willow laughed when she saw Amara, giving her a condescending look. "So you're the infamous, Amara." she said to the older girl, clearly not impressed. "Nicolae could have done better looks wise."

Amara didn't respond, continuing to give Willow an emotionless stare. The Victor looked like she had something else to say, but stopped herself at the last moment. She re-entered the Justice Building instead to meet with the District elite and prepare for the Victory feast. Amara left the stage shortly after, already seeing her furious parents approaching her. Amara smiled though, immune to their aura of rage.

_'Rest in peace, Nic.'_ she thought to herself, placing the golden engagement ring on her finger. _'I'll always love you.'_

* * *

**District 1**

Luxe found himself unable to enter the Tribute Graveyard anymore, the memories to painful for him to bear to long. He could see the graves though, past all the others and the many head busts of tributes who had won their Games.

_'United in death.'_ Luxe thought. _'How hopelessly romantic.'_

_'But it should be you and I, Auron.'_

_'Now that will never happen until I die.'_

Luxe turned and left the Graveyard, realizing that the Victory Tour would be beginning shortly. He would rather have been a million other places than at the Victory Tour and upon arriving, it was easy to tell that everyone else felt the same way. Willow had made a fool of their District in this year's Games, mocking their tributes at every chance, killing one of their in the Bloodbath and tricking another into his death. Needless to say, the moment Willow walked on stage the crowd was on edge and less than receptive. Like all other Districts though, Willow didn't seem to notice the hatred towards her as she happily began giving her boring speech.

Luxe felt himself boiling with rage. Even just looking at Willow for a second brought rage to the surface, threatening to cause him to start screaming like a mad man. Luxe instead allowed his vision to wonder to the other people on the stage. Charm's family sat still on one side, much of their family's jubilant nature gone. It was one thing to lose Charm in the Bloodbath, it was entirely different to see her come back as a deformed monster. Charm's family had lost it once she came back, traumatized beyond social standard. They stopped become functioning members of society and simply remained in their home, unwilling to face the world that allowed their daughter to not enjoy the peace of death.

Auron's parents, on the other hand, seemed more concerned about how close they had to be to each other than their son's murderer next to them. Shortly after Auron's death, his parents had divorced one another. Their marriage had been in the shitter for a long time and Auron's death seemed like an appropriate opportunity to get a divorce, while of course saving face socially. Luxe had never been a fan of Auron's parents as they'd not been a fan of him, but both had kept that from Auron. Luxe found them to be obsessed and basic while Auron's parents saw him as a deviant and distraction from Auron's training.

Not that they ever really cared for Auron and his training. To them, Auron competing in the Games wasn't for honor or for the District, it was for their wealth and social status. Auron had always wanted to be a Career and his parents only supported that dream for themselves. Their son had merely become a tool for them to advance socially, his life having no value beyond what he could provide for them. Luxe never thought Auron understood that, or if he did he chose to ignore it well.

Only one person truly grieved for Auron, grieved for the person he was and not the Career or the person who could have been as Victor. Only Luxe cared enough for true grieving for the lose of an eighteen year old boy.

Willow finished her speech to a silent crowd, the District crowd to bitter to applaud. An unwise move, but a noble one that Luxe felt appreciative off. He could see Charm's family looking the same, giving a small smile to the crowd for their support. Willow looked annoyed but still left the podium in peace, turning to greet the representatives. Luxe didn't stick around though as he left the ceremony to visit Auron's grave properly. He would grieve alone for his love, like he was at that moment and would be for a long time.

* * *

**The Capitol**

"HAIL TO VICTOR BARK!" Caesar Flickerman screamed over his microphone.

"H-Hail Victor Bark!" The drunken crowd screamed back, riotous laughter and cheering erupting from the group.

Plutarch, not inebriated, sipped softly from his glass the rich wine as he watched Caesar inflate Willow's image for the crowd. It was rather unnecessary as Willow was by far one of the Capitol's favorite Victors, but Caesar loved to hear himself talk and find himself necessary in any situation.

Sighing to himself, Plutarch told himself to ignore the fountains of wine around him. He had business later in the night and one more conversation before he was allowed to leave for his home. Moving through the crowd of partying Capitolites, Plutarch came upon his target.

"Congratulations, Victor Bark."

Willow looked at Plutarch with a smile, deranged as always. "What a pleasure to meet you!" she said, "Who are you?"

"My apologies, Victor. I'm Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee." Plutarch said, extending his hand to shake Willow's. Willow accepted it, her grip tight compared to Plutarch's soft shake.

"Ahh, so you're mind is responsible for this year's fun Games!" Willow said.

"In part. Next year will be my first year as Head Gamemaker." Plutarch said with false pride.

"Oh, I imagine you're excited."

"Very, my dear." Plutarch replied with a smile of his own. "Hopefully next year we'll have someone as entertaining as you become Victor."

Willow laughed. "Oh Plutarch," she said without reservation. "There will never be anyone else like me."

"We'll have to see. I expect that you'll be a mentor for next years Games then."

Willow rolled her eyes. "I think I'll be the only mentor for District 7. My mentor this year was absolutely sucky, so I'll be doing it next year by myself I'm sure. But I'm not going to help losers, if the tributes don't have what it takes then their shit out of luck with my help."

"Glad you have that figured out." Plutarch said, keeping the edge out of his voice.

"As am I. Any hints you can drop about next year's arena?" Willow asked.

Plutarch looked around him for eavesdroppers, then leaned into Willow. "Make sure your tributes are careful around the water."

Willow snorted. "How vague and useless." she responded. "Well, I suppose I'll be seeing you around later."

"Yes, I suppose we shall." Plutarch said. "Congratulations again, Willow."

Willow gave one last smile and then disappeared into the crowd of adoring Capitolites, becoming drunk herself from their praise. Plutarch left the celebration quickly, eager to return to his home. It was a short distance away and Plutarch soon found himself within the comfort of his own home. A trusted Avox came up and took his coat away before leading Plutarch to the back room. Punching in a code, Plutarch entered his hidden room to find his guest exactly where he left her.

"How are you fairing today, Madge?"

Madge Undersee looked at Plutarch with tired eyes, watching the television set in her small room without any real commitment. Plutarch sighed and allowed Madge out of his room, activating the security system so no one would see her.

"Do you want some good news?" he asked.

Madge nodded her head, pouring herself a glass of fresh water.

"I'm getting you out of the Capitol."

Madge looked up at Plutarch with shocked eyes. She had long since stopped emitting any sound, but at that moment Plutarch was sure that she was about too. He offered her a smile. "District 13 has agreed to accept you into their ranks." he told her. "But it might take some time to get you out of the Capitol safely. You're officially listed as dead, but that doesn't mean that Snow and his agents aren't still looking, just in case."

Madge nodded her head, happy with the development. Plutarch had known all along that she was the daughter of the mayor of District 12 and that she was a rebel. He had sworn to her father to help his daughter escape, a promise he held up through. Now he had to take the next step and keep her safe.

"For the first time a while, things are going to be ok for you Madge." he told her in a comforting voice.

Madge looked at Plutarch with a doubtful looked before pointing to the TV, where Willow was standing in front of the screaming Capitol. While she couldn't speak, Plutarch understood what she was conveying.

_'But not for Panem.'_

"No... we still have a lot of work to do for everyone else." he told her softly.

* * *

**_I know that the Victory Tour always ends back in the Victor's District. I'm not writing that part though since we got that three chapters ago and also have an epilogue coming up. Also sorry for that, I feel as though this Victory Tour chapter was the weakest._**

**_Final Update up next!_**


	6. Epilogue: From Haunted to Absolved

**_Happy November! Hope you all had a great Halloween!_**

**_But here we are guys... final update for the 76th Games. Enjoy_**

* * *

**Epilogue: From Haunted to Absolved**

"Do you think she's going to kill us?"

Jason looked at Arkin with worried eyes, unable to answer his friend's question. "I don't know... she hasn't done anything crazy for a while." he replied to his friend, who looked like she was ready to scream. He couldn't blame her, he felt the same.

Twenty children, all orphans, had been rounded up a group of Peacekeepers in the early morning. They had descended upon the group of pre-teens quietly and dragged them to the gates of Victor Village without an explanation, simply telling them to remain quiet and not to speak unless spoken too.

Victor Village terrified the orphan children; mainly because of the terrible stories that had been spread around the District about what Willow did behind those gates. Willow had become the boogeyman for the District, a terrifying image used to scare children and adults alike. It had almost been a year since Willow had been crowned Victor, and over that time she had managed to hurt several citizens of the District for various reasons. Usually it was for nothing more than being to close to her, but Willow was volatile and extremely dangerous, especially since her status as Victor made her near immune to most laws.

While the District had been appreciative of her for the Victory, as soon as the festivities died down, everybody began remembering that their Victor was a total psychopath. A demon in flesh. A girl who killed without second thought and actually _enjoyed_ doing it. Everyone acted with respect around her, only for fear of what she might do to them!

The feeling of the unknown plagued Willow as well, as her personal 'activities' had been largely guarded and up for speculation. Even the mayor wasn't quite sure what their latest Victor was up too. It had begun the day after her Victory Feast when she began cutting down trees in the forest next to Victor Village. A few weeks later she had began purchasing Avoxs to work for her followed by a few months later building supplies. Construction could be heard near Victor Village, yet no one had any idea what Willow was building. A few bold men had tried to find out, but had returned bruised and bloodied by an angry Willow.

A single man stood on duty for Victor Village, whose sole job was to admit citizens who the Victor was expecting. Since none of the Victor's had many friends in the District, the guard's job usually consisted of relaxing and watching Capitol television. Currently the television was showing the midday news that always began with a recap. A bizarre looking woman with diamonds in her skin was reading off a teleprompter, her tone overly happy and grating against everyone's ears.

_'Good afternoon Panem, and thanks for tuning in for the noon news! Here are the top events of the day so far! District 9's pestilence problem has finally subsided. Capitol technology has successfully destroyed the terrible vermin who disrupted the strong District's agricultural flow. The District's mayor gave a statement saying that exports of grain will be recommencing by next week.'_

The Peacekeepers grunted, knowing exactly what 'pestilence' problem District 9 had faced. The religious rebels had been removed from sight, though the leader Myza had not been caught. It hardly mattered though; the Peacekeepers had successfully pushed the zealots back underground. They had quickly realized that simply killing the zealots didn't work as they had gained martyr status. Torturing, maiming, and then releasing them back into the public... well that was a different story.

_'District 6 remains under the supervision of Head Peacekeeper Edrick. There has still yet to be further comment from President Snow regarding Mayor Kale's replacement, but the President has stated that Peacekeeper Edrick has quote 'done an exceptional job and will continue to do so.''_

District 6 was suffering even more than it was under the Kale's. While Kale had been arrogant and selfish, Edrick was sociopathic and brutal. Beatings were regular, extortion of citizens for services commonplace, and morphling addicts a norm. Edrick had done a remarkable job at destroying the freedom of the District's citizens by increasing morphling production and distributing it to his citizens. Edrick now had a third of the District under his thumb through addiction, holding them in complacency and dependency.

District 6's will and ability to fight had disappeared through a needle's injection. As much of a monster that Warren Kale had been, there was an even worse just waiting to take over.

_'Production of electronics has slowed down as District 3 updates its factories and imports new materials that will upgrade the quality of her treasured electronics.'_

While District 6 had failed, District 3 was fairing rather well. Rebellions were an on and off occurrence in the District, frequent enough to be an issue but infrequent enough that Peacekeepers couldn't properly stop the rebels.

A countdown appeared on screen followed by dramatic music and the Capitol's seal.

_'And now our Hunger Games hourly announcement! With only thirty days left until the first Reapings when can now confirm that the arena is complete! Head Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee has happily announced that he expects no problems with the arena and hopes for another exciting year for the 77th Games!'_

"So... you guys ready for the Reapings?" The Village guard asked the city Peacekeepers, attempting to make small talk.

"The Reapings are in a month." A Peacekeeper growled at the guard.

"I'm just asking, trying to be polite and all." The guard responded. "What do you think the arena will be?"

The Peacekeepers rolled their eyes, not responding. A younger one though, less stoic than the others, broke character. "The last few have been really land based, so I bet the Gamemakers will do something with a lot of water!" he said.

"Water, huh?" The guard mimicked. "Yeah, it's been a while since we've had an all water arena. Mainly because a lot of tribute can't swim and it gets boring to watch children drowning."

"Same with a lot of snow!" The Peacekeeper said happily. "You can't have a Games in the freezing cold! Those never work out!"

"Maybe one day they will." The guard responded. "I think an arctic arena would be a very cool arena. That or a desert! Both of those would be so cool!"

"Or disastrous."

The Peacekeepers and the guards all stood to attention as Victor Willow Bark exited the Victor's Village. She was dressed in very loose fitting clothing that looked to be a few sizes to big for her. It wasn't really her fault though, clothes shopping and fashion were never important aspects of her life and winning the Games hadn't changed that. Besides, she only had two pairs of clothing before the Games, clothing she could no longer fit into since the Capitol had practically changed every aspect of her body. Willow had randomly picked out clothing styles without trying anything on, only looking for comfort and free movement over attractiveness and style. To Willow, her now massive breasts were attraction enough for guys.

"Thank you for bringing the kids here!" Willow said to the Peacekeepers with a smile. "I can take it from here."

The Peacekeepers looked confused but relented, leaving Willow with the twenty children. The children weren't reassured though, looking at their Victor with scared looks. Ordinarily, Willow would have been thrilled by the fear but today it was just annoying.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to gut you and bath in your blood." she told them. A few children flinched while Willow laughed, remembering the rumor a terrified servant had relayed to Willow. Apparently people thought Willow was killing the Avoxs she bought and then would bath in their blood before having sex with their dead bodies. Why she would be bathing in blood was beyond Willow but it was a funny rumor so she allowed it to persist.

"Y-y-you-" One child to say.

"Oh for fuck's sake, please tell me I didn't get a stutterer!" Willow snapped.

The child shrunk away, falling behind some of her friends who looked equally as scared.

Willow sighed, trying to fight off the anger that was threatening to take over. "Look I'm trying to do a good deed here so you guys can at least be appreciative! Do you have any idea how hard that is to do? Being evil is so much easier than being good, and it's boring as fuck too. Wait... I'm setting the wrong example... I shouldn't be cursing, should I?"

The children looked more confused than scared, which Willow took as a good sign that she was being nice. Luckily she didn't have to worry so much as her final guest appeared.

"Ah there he is!" Willow said happily, waving happily to the approaching man. The children looked at him confused, though comforted that he appeared nice and not threatening.

"Willow, my dear." The man said, nodding slightly to the Victor.

"Boys and girls, this is Mr. Apricot! He saved my life when my dad tried to drown me!" Willow announced happily.

Shock fell once more over the children. They all knew the story but hearing Willow talk casually about it was disturbing. Mr. Apricot seemed to understand this and quickly moved the conversation forward.

"So, what do you have to show us today, Willow." he asked politely.

Willow smiled and made a grand, theatrical gesture. "Come with me!" Willow said, skipping off by herself. The children didn't follow her, but did so when Mr. Apricot walked after Willow with a smile. Mr. Apricot seemed nice enough to the children... and they doubted Willow could kill all of them... could she?

Willow led them a short distance behind Victor Village, the group passing construction gear and dirty Avoxs. They looked like they hadn't been cared for very well, but that was the typical Avox look. The children looked at them with fear, knowing that they had all once been rebels. Failed rebels, forced to spend the rest of their lives in true slavery to the Capitol.

They were distracted though when they arrived at their destination. A massive, two story building greeted them with open arms as Avox's lined the walk way leading up to the building. The building was painted white and had plain windows throughout, allowing plenty of natural light into it. The design of the building was very basic though comforting. A garden surrounded it, beautiful flowers and trees lining the edges of the building and the surrounding area. In the cemented pathway leading up to the building was a Willow tree, shading the surrounding area.

"What is this, Willow?" Mr. Apricot asked.

"This is their new home." Willow said, looking at the children. "I give you, Willow's super awesome, totally not evil orphanage! Free of Peacekeepers, rapists, assholes, and... well everything else bad in the world. Except me, I have to oversee this place from time to time. But I won't do anything bad to you guys! After all, none of you guys are tributes in the Hunger Games!"

Willow began to laugh, but none of the children laughed with her. They were to distracted by the beautiful orphanage in front of them. Willow waved to some Avoxs and they came rushing forward with treats and drinks, leading the children into the orphanage. It wasn't long before the children had burst into laughter, enjoying their new home and the comforting aura it gave off.

"Willow, I must say I am very impressed-" Mr. Apricot began, before being cut off by Willow seizing his arm violently.

"Does this make her happy?" She demanded of Mr. Apricot. "Would she be proud? Would she still love me like she said she would?!"

Mr. Apricot blinked, quickly realizing who Willow was referring too. He laid a comforting hand on Willow's shoulder, a smile on his face. "Your mother would be proud of what you've done here, my dear." he said.

Willow smiled, a beautiful and genuine one. Mr. Apricot looked mystified by it, surprised by how different it was to her normal smile. This was one that wasn't filled with twisted insanity, it was one filled with true joy and happiness.

A smile that echoed Willow's mother's smile. The smile that Willow had longed to portray herself.

"Obviously I won't be the caretaker here." Willow said. "I think I'd kill everyone single one of them by the end of the week. I'm leaving the Avoxs to care for the children and wanted you to run things as well."

Mr. Apricot raised a grey, thin eyebrow. "Me?" he asked surprised.

"Sure, you're nice and stuff." Willow shrugged. "I'm sure you'd be a good caretaker."

Mr. Apricot chuckled. "You know nothing about me though, my dear, beyond that I saved your life."

"I think that's good enough. Besides," Willow said, leaning into Mr. Apricot. "Just know that if you hurt or abuse any of these children like I was in that fucking work camp, I'll rip your fucking guts out like I did that bitch from 4."

Mr. Apricot was unfazed by Willow's words, offering her a comforting smile in return. "I would be my honor to oversee things, Willow. And once more, your mother would be proud of you."

Willow nodded awkwardly, unsure of what to do next. "Well... enjoy the kids I guess." Willow said, walking away from the orphanage and Mr. Apricot. She could hear children laughing and playing happily, though didn't turn to look at their joyful faces. It would only fill her with rage as she was forced look at what she was denied.

The orphanage was something she had been working on since returning to the District. She had done a lot to make it happen, work her hands to blisters cutting down trees and spending her seemingly endless amount money on bribing Capitol officials. Permits were expensive, but nothing was beyond the reach of a Victor she was finding.

Still, Willow held great confusion over what she had done. It wasn't like her to take pity on children. No one had offered her any when she was their age, why should she waste her time giving what she had been without? But still, the voice of her mother came back to her as did another lesson she had been taught.

_'Mommy... is daddy a bad man?'_

_Willow's mom looked at her daughter with a small smile. 'No, sweetie, he isn't a bad man.'_

_'But he hurt those people... isn't that bad?'_

_'It is sweetie, you should never hurt people.' Willow's mom answered. 'But sometimes those people who seem awful aren't always awful. Sometimes there can be some good in a person, you just have to find that good.'_

Willow was an awful person who willingly admitted she deserved hell. She reveled in misery, reveled in the act of killing, reveled in the suffering she could cause. It's what gave her power, taking life and hurting others made her feel strong. No longer did she have to feel powerless, unable to stop forces that would seek to hurt her. Her inability to protect herself haunted her, but now as Victor she had power over herself and others.

And while she could never change who she was, a psychotic killer with no remorse, Willow felt that with all that power she owed one thing others. It was extremely hypocritical of her, but she never wanted another child to turn out like her. The orphanage would prevent Peacekeepers from twisting other innocent children into creatures like her. The orphanage and her father would forever haunt her, but these children didn't deserve that. That's what her mother would say.

They would be given good lives, just like her mom had tried to give her.

Because no matter how dark the world could be, or how dark Willow's mind was, there was always a ray of light in it.

Always a hint of goodness within, given to her by the one person she loved. It was just like with the rest of the world. There would always been suffering, pain, death, but there would always be good somewhere in the world. There was good and light everywhere, no matter the darkness and evil that surrounded it.

It just had to be found.

**The End**

* * *

**_So ends the story of the 76th Hunger Games._**

**_First off, I want to thank all my readers and reviewers. While I love writing, it was your praise and dedication to this story that encouraged me to keep writing and improve beyond my status quo. Thank you all so much for everything, you guys are awesome and should give yourself a pat on the back from me :)_**

**_Secondly, this story wouldn't have any tributes for you to care about if it wasn't for the amazing people who submitted them for this story. They all deserve praise for creating these amazing tributes and allowing me to fit them into my story so seamlessly. Give a round of imaginary applause to them and their tributes!_**

**_FFFreak21 (Auron, Nicolae, Kaden)_**

**_Hutsune (Charm)_**

**_EchoingBreeze (Cyra)_**

**_Emmileeblue (Wren, Delvin, Joshua)_**

**_MidnightRaven323 (Ivy)_**

**_SeekerDraconis (Caspian, Damian)_**

**_IAteTheCookie45 (Isabella)_**

**_Necklace of Rope (Daira)_**

**_Thehungergames123 (Jonathan)_**

**_GoldPikaCandy (Azzura)_**

**_Morbid4everFlaming (Axel)_**

**_loverman22 (Choux)_**

**_Janelle Howard (Danielle)_**

**_Bree Avolon (Raven, Anastasia)_**

**_Hoprocker (Willabeana)_**

**_Got2LiveItBigTime (Tianora)_**

**_Pike & Olive's Adventure (Demi, Willow)_**

**_So now I get to go back and edit! Basically just review the story and change things, i.e. fix grammar, change dialogue around to make it flow smoother, and drop plot lines and themes that went nowhere (though there aren't a lot of those.) This should be much easier since Fanfic deleted my story, literally giving me a fresh start._**

**_I've been waiting for the end to make the announcement, so here it is. After a lot of thought, I've decided that I like writing this type of story to much to stop. So yes, I am planning on writing another SYOT story._**

**_THE 77TH HUNGER GAMES - THE DAMNED_**

**_I probably won't be publishing this story for sometime though. I think I'm allowed to take a little bit of a break from Fanfiction before starting on another story like this. I'm planning on posting the prologue mid December (after my finals, the week of December 15) and will begin writing the first few chapters over my winter break. Depending on how fast I write and how fast I get all 24 tributes, the story will start sometime in mid to late January. We'll hopefully reach the Games by April/May and then have them finished by the end of summer._**

**_And while the 77th won't be up for a while, I will be accepting submissions now though :) If you would like to have a tribute for the 77th Hunger Games, then go ahead and message me which spot you want and I'll send you the usual submission form. I was pretty loose with rules for the 76th since it was my first one, and I still will be, but I'd actually like to get twenty-four different authors submitting to this story this time. Also, I've decided to post some guidelines for you guys on my profile (not that you guys need help, but just in case)._**

**_Note that just because you're the first to submit to a tribute slot, that doesn't mean you're going to get that place. I'm going to try and avoid first come and first serve. So take your time, create a character that you like a lot and want to read about for the next Games. AND THEN WAIT AND READ HOW I DESTROY THEM, MUWAHAHA!_**

**_Also, if you enjoy horror as I do and the Hunger Games, check out my other story The Slender Games! It will be a short story of 13 chapters and should be able to bide you guys over until the start of the sequel. On and off updating and I need to go back and fix some of the grammar from the first two chapters, so I apologize in advance._**

**_Thank you all so much! I'll see you soon for the 77th Games!_**

**_- Dante Alighieri1308_**

**_or_**

**_- Ryan :)_**


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